Peace groups write on Armed Forces Day

Pat Gaffney of Pax Christi and Bruce Kent of the Movement for the Abolition of War are among signatories to a letter published in the Independent today challenging the impact of military culture on young people.

Today is Armed Forces day, a relatively new venture created by the Government to provide a way for 'the public show their support for the Armed Forces'. However, signatories to the letter believe that it is primarily a promotion and celebration of military culture that is very much aimed at children and young people. This is clearly seen in the number of family fun events, exhibitions and 'hand-on' activities that are being held around the country. They are especially concerned for those under-18s who may be recruited into the armed forces as a result of these events. More than 7,000 people have signed a Petition urging our Government to raise the recruitment age to 18. Currently the recruitment age is 16.

The signatories argue: "Rather than institutionalising public support for the armed forces we should stop selling war to children through sanitised celebration of the military and the promotion of "military ethos" in schools. It is unacceptable for the UK to be the only country in the EU to still recruit 16-year-olds into the armed forces, defying the growing international consensus against child recruitment.

As one of the thousands of signatories of our petition to change the law said: "Children should be protected from conflict, not incorporated in it."

For more information on the impact of policies on young people see: www.forceswatch.net/

Read the full text here:

War marketed as family entertainment

Towns and cities across the UK will today (27 June) be "celebrating" Armed Forces Day. Many councils hold these events as signatories to the Armed Forces Community Covenant; almost every local authority has pledged support to the armed forces in perpetuity, and hundreds of businesses, charities and schools have signed the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant.

Many of today's events are packaged as "family fun", with military vehicles and weaponry to entice young people, and cadet and armed forces careers marketing to recruit them. War is not family entertainment.

The school assembly packs on offer from the Ministry of Defence display a breath-taking economy with the truth about the purpose and consequences of military action.

Pat Gaffney
Pax Christi UK

Emma Sangster
ForcesWatch

Ben Griffin
Veterans for Peace UK

Bruce Kent
Abolition of War

Matt Jeziorski
Peace Education Network

Claire Poyner
Network for Peace

Philip Austin
Northern Friends Peace Board

Brian Larkin
Edinburgh Peace & Justice Centre