Campaigners Promote Petition Urging James Cropper PLC/Technical Fibre Products of Burneside to Withdraw from Contract to Provide Materials for F35 War Planes Attacking Gaza

Campaigners Repeat Calls for Croppers PLC to Stop Supplying Materials for F35 War Planes 

Campaigners gathered again outside Kendal town hall on Saturday (16 March 2024) calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and asking passers-by to sign a petition calling on James Cropper PLC / Technical Fibre Products (TFP) to withdraw from their contract to produce materials for the Lockheed Martin F35 Lightning II military aircraft which they say are used by the Israeli Defence Force in their attacks on Gaza. This follows campaigning outside the Croppers factory in Burneside on Tuesday (12th March 2024) and MP, Tim Farron's report that Croppers have told him, in response to queries about the company supplying materials for F35s, that "they provide a component of a component that is principally used in civil aviation but which can also be used on military aircraft too.” The petition can be accessed online at http://tinyurl.com/StopF35.

Spokesperson, Philip Gilligan said,

“For several weeks, now, many of us have been contacting James Cropper PLC and its subsidiary TFP to ask about their involvement in supplying materials used in the production of F35s, some of which are known to be used by Israel in its attacks in Gaza. We have done so in the context of the International Court of Justice ruling of plausible genocide by Israel in January 2024 and statements such as that from Israel's spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, in November 2023 that F-35s were being used to bomb Gaza and 'assist ground forces in very close proximity strikes'. We have been extremely disappointed that Croppers / TFP have failed to respond to any of our enquiries. We had hoped that they would be willing to consider ending their involvement with the F35 project, once alerted to Israel's use of F35s in attacks which have killed and injured many thousands of women and children, and destroyed their homes, schools and hospitals. However, we have been given no reason to think that Croppers / TFP will do so. Indeed, TFP declared on their website, as recently as 12th February 2024, that they ‘produce nonwoven solutions for a number of cutting edge military aircraft and vehicles, including the F35’. Hence, the decision both to launch a petition and campaign directly outside the Croppers factory in Burneside on Tuesday (12th March 2024).

“At least 30,000 people, including more than 10,000 children, have been killed in Gaza in the last 5 months, 1.7 million people have been displaced, and 70% of residential buildings have been destroyed. The use of military aircraft, such as the F35, has been at the centre of this destruction and killing. We, therefore urge Croppers chairman, Mark Cropper, to initiate  processes to terminate any relevant contracts. We also call on our elected representatives on Westmorland and Furness Council to debate the implications for South Lakeland industries of any involvement in the potential genocide in Gaza, and on Tim Farron MP to ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will review TFP’s licence to produce materials for the F-35.”, he added.