This February, we heard from veteran for peace, David Collins about his experience serving in the forces and his journey towards peace and climate activism. You can catch up on this very insightful webinar below. David has also provided a number of resources that complement his talk, including a list of actions we can all take, his ‘Is war a racket?’ speech made at an Extinction Rebellion protest last year, and several clips which he had intended to share in the webinar.
Actions:
Priority Action: Promoting the experience and perspective of women and girls regarding conflict.
Financial:
- Contact the insurers of oil & gas operations to switch their business to renewables
- Change personal bank or insurance company to ‘green’ organisations – e.g. Triodos Bank
- Buy small number of shares in oil/arms companies so that you can have a say at their AGMs
Press:
- Letters to newspapers. As well as conventional letters selected by Editors, the Financial Times includes all comments regarding their articles on their digital platform from subscribers (expensive but gets read by financiers who are normally insulated from criticism).
- Social Media – dropping in comments on X dialogues
London Leafleting
- Distribute leaflets to officials and public outside key government ministries in London such as Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Department for International Trade which includes Arms Exports
Parliament/Government
- Submit evidence to MP Select committees and APPGs – All Party Parliamentary Groups –
- Support EDMs – Early Day Motions by contacting sympathetic MPs
- Letters to MPs – especially support the few MPs who resist war
- Respond to government public consultations on foreign policy issues
- Write to Climate Change Committee demanding government respect Paris commitments
Resist Arms Fairs – especially small ones – e.g. Armoured Vehicle Conferences at Twickenham Rugby Club in London.
Banners for public display at Events/COPs – e.g. “War Causes Climate Change and Climate Change Causes War”
Attend Peace Seminars – a powerful way to encourage other peace organisations
Information: Contact with research organisations such as Scientists for Global Responsibility, Tipping Point North South, Transnational Institute.
‘Is war a racket?’ speech:
War School – The Battle for Britain’s Children video clips:
War School is a film about the battle for the hearts and minds of Britain’s children. Set against the backdrop of Remembrance the controversial and challenging documentary reveals how, faced with unprecedented opposition to its wars, the British government is using a series of new and targeted strategies to promote support for the military. The full video can be watched here.