Dear Oliver Coppard,

I am writing to you as a constituent of the South Yorkshire area to demand the immediate divestment from all arms manufacturing at the AMRC and call for a renewal of our historic demilitarisation.

The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority has invested £80 million into the Advanced Manufacturing and Research Centre (AMRC). The AMRC, owned by The University of Sheffield, is home to arms dealers such as BAE systems, Boeing and Rolls Royce. As exposed in the Genocide and Apartheid Complicity Report (linked above), the AMRC is an organisation predominantly used for the development of arms technologies, such as the F-35 jets that are currently being used by the Israeli states to commit mass war crimes and genocide in Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria.

I, as a constituent of South Yorkshire, absolutely resent and object to this use of local resources and call on reinvestment in life affirming industries, such as renewable energy, healthcare, and food and agricultural justice. We must return to our historical roots of demilitarisation and anti-apartheid. I ask you to stand firmly with your constituents in demanding justice and peace, creating a county that we are proud of, instead of directly enabling the Israeli campaign of genocide. We are calling on you, Oliver Coppard, to cut these ties with apartheid and militarisation and set a precedent for other constituencies.

I shall repeat your own words, written in your manifesto, back to you here:

‘Under the crest of South Yorkshire are written the words ‘Each shall strive for the good of all’. I am asking for your support to be South Yorkshire’s Mayor so that those words might once again be the foundation of our shared future.’ [1]

The community of Sheffield elected you on this promise, and we ask you now to commit to it. Cost of living continues to increase, South Yorkshire faces increasing homelessness, and a lack of accessible social welfare services continue to harm marginalised communities. We need a Mayor for the people more than ever. We see your green-washing and empty promises. You are neglecting your own constituents whilst you invest in arms and weaponry, and aid the blatantly complicit University of Sheffield and its AMRC department.

But things can change. Stand with your constituents. Use your privileged position to ‘strive’ for the ‘good of all’, not only protecting and investing in our community but also upholding the right to life, liberty, and land across Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.

I am signing this open letter because this issue is of the utmost importance to me, and will directly inform the way I choose to vote in the future. Stand in solidarity with us!

Signed,

Constituent.

[1] https://www.southyorkshire-ca.gov.uk/getattachment/2de03b90-68f1-4ad4-bd86-c6bb79f2e1a3/Our-Future-Rebuilding-the-pride,-purpose-and-prosperity-of-South-Yorkshire.pdf