We had an incredible response from GCOMS campaigners and supporting groups across the UK as part of the Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) this year, below are a few of the highlights.
Kicking up a storm on social media
The UK was extremely active in the global ‘twitterstorm’ on the 26th of April with hundreds of tweets being shared thousands of times. Campaigners mobilised around the #HealthcareNotWarfare hashtag alongside the new #DefundTheMilitary tag. Many supporting organisations created their own creative images and infographics and we were bolstered by the support of additional major NGOs such as Greenpeace International. Bringing together campaigners from climate, development & faith-based movements dramatically increased our global reach, with the new hashtag alone reaching over 100 million impressions. Many groups reported an uptick in new followers and two organisations their ‘most popular tweet ever‘, emphasising the benefits of collective action. In short, it’s a fantastic way for us to keep raising awareness of runaway military spending, with the GDAMS message reaching millions of new people.
Twitter stats for #DefundTheMilitary during GDAMS
Parliamentary Lobbying
We worked with Campaign Against Arms Trade to produce a lobbying tool to make it easier for supporters to contact their MPs. Please do forward on MPs responses so we can build a picture of potential allies in parliament.
To coincide with the release of the SIPRI military spending figures, CAAT Scotland, Peace & Justice Scotland and Scottish CND organised a peace hustings. The event was attended by candidates from the SNP, Labour, Lib Dems & Greens.
Street demonstrations
We weren’t just limited to online campaigning despite the continued lockdown, with a number of in person events happening across the country.
London Women in Black, held two vigils on April at the Edith Cavell statue, St.Martin’s Place in central London, leafleting passers-by about the campaign.
Menwith Hill Accountability Campaign and Yorkshire CND held a demonstration on April 30 at Menwith Hill US spy-base in North Yorkshire. The event was part of the ‘International Day of Action Against Foriegn Bases’ called by IPB & GCOMS. Complete with a walk around the base, the event was covered in the Morning Star and the regional press.
Keighley Peace, Justice and Environment Network, held a vigil in Keighley town centre on the 1 May. The event was covered in the local press.
Linking struggles
Two GCOMS UK steering group members worked with the COP26 Coalition to highlight the links between militarism and climate change. Dr Stuart Parkinson, Scientists for Global Responsiblity, summarised the latest data on the ‘military carbon boot-print’, military spending vs spending on carbon reduction and examples of arms conversion.
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament organised a ‘Nurses not Nukes’ webinar to discuss government priorities in the light of the latest military spending figures.
GCOMS UK Co-ordinator Matt Fawcett discussed the issues alongside campaigners on nurses pay and public health.
In the press
Alongside the events coverage our GCOMS UK Statement was featured in the Morning Star and Campaign Against Arms Trade led an innovative campaign encouraging supporters to engage local press & radio on military spending. Local press is a great way to start discussions on local priorities and is avidly read by local MPs to gauge constituent concerns. We know of letters published in Orkey News, The Daily Echo, The Derbyshire Times and The Surrey Advertiser.
Did you also have your letter published? Let us know.
In Brief
Pax Christi produced an educational resource for GDAMS featuring materials for discussing security and spending priorities with young people.
GCOMS UK Steering Group member Daniel Jakopovich, Peace & Disarmament Manager at Quakers in Britain, held online learning sessions on military spending organised by the Sheringham and Forest of Dean Quaker meetings.
Share the World’s Resources launched a new petition calling on the diversion of military spending to meet urgent global Covid needs.
These are just a few of examples of the range of webinars, workshops and events that happened during GDAMS.
What did we miss?
We’ll be writing up learning for future GDAMS, so please do let us know of anything we’ve missed or improvements to make next year.
We’d like to thank everyone for their incredible work this year, but while GDAMS is over the campaign is only just beginning. What will you do?
