General secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions GAWAIN LITTLE calls for support and participation in the national partnership organised to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1926 general strike
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Refusing to kill
On International Conscientious Objectors’ Day, GEOFF TIBBS explains why we should listen to the voices of COs as they bear witness to the legal, social and coercive mechanisms that war depends on
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EARLIER this year, when the head of the British army, General Sir Patrick Sanders, called for a “citizen army” to prepare for a ground war with Russia, military conscription was suddenly in the headlines, pushed by right-wing commentators and hawkish politicians.
This provoked many people to wonder, perhaps for the first time, how would I feel if I were conscripted? What would I do?
Conscientious objection to conscription in Britain is mainly associated with the world wars. Around 20,000 British men became conscientious objectors (COs for short) during the first world war.
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by Andrew Nickson