GCOMS-UK has been on the road over the past month, taking our message on cutting military spending to Conferences organised by supporting organisations and engaging with peace activists on the urgent need for action.
With UK military spending currently running at more than £100,000 every minute, and the Labour Government committed to increase this by billions more to reach the arbitrary target of 2.5% of GDP – we’ve been highlighting the alternatives to military spending as well as the dangers of ever increasing amounts.
In September we joined Christian peace groups including the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Pax Christi and the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship in Staffordshire for the Building Peace in a World of War Conference. Our workshop ran through some of the fundamental facts and figures about the current state of global military spending, before breaking out into groups to discuss what other spending priorities could receive investment if military spending was cut. We also discussed what security really means, and whether it is best served by increasing military spending or by tackling climate breakdown and providing decent homes, jobs and enough food.
In October we were invited to take part in a panel discussion at CND Conference in London, alongside Kirsten from Campaign Against the Arms Trade and Ashok Kumar. The session was looking at how we can use economic and industrial power to challenge militarism.
As well as talking about the need to apply political pressure, especially ahead of high-profile events like the Autumn Budget, there was discussion around what individuals can do to tackle militarism. Suggestions ranged from ensuring that our own ‘economic power’ is not invested in companies link to military spending, including our bank accounts and pension investments.
With the Budget being announced on October 30 and the Government talking about ‘difficult decisions’ to be taken – with spending cuts being discussed across departments, it is important that we do all we can to ensure that military spending is challenged.
