legislation & policy

Boris Johnson’s government and the military: a look ahead at 2020

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#GE2019: security & defence

A potted analysis of existing positions and manifesto pledges of Labour, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, the major nationalist parties and the Greens.

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The British armed forces: Why raising the recruitment age would benefit everyone

A briefing (Child Soldiers International, 2019) making the case for setting 18 as the minimum age for recruitment.

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Selling the Military films

At the launch event for our report with Medact on Selling the Military: A critical analysis of contemporary recruitment marketing in the UK, contributors and participants told us why they think this is an important issue. And a longer film of the presentation summarising the report.

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Selling the military: A critical analysis of contemporary recruitment marketing in the UK

This report, written by ForcesWatch and published with the public health charity Medact,  analyses the way the armed forces market their careers to adolescents and young people, creating powerful messages that which exploit developmental vulnerabilities and social inequality, risking the health and well-being of recruits. Narratives of camaraderie and self-development also serve to promote an uncontroversial and depoliticised idea of the military more widely which promote self-fulfilment in the context of conflict.

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Historical allegations: fact vs fiction

With the recent reporting about relaxed rules of engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan, we take a quick look at some of the key questions around the allegations of abuse and killing by UK troops.

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Recruitment at any price

Our response to the Public Accounts Committee have today published their report Skill Shortages in the Armed Forces, which makes a number of problematic recommendations that put the military's operational needs over other considerations.

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Parliamentary mental health inquiry shows youngest military recruits and those from disadvantaged backgrounds face greater mental health risks than others in the forces

The Defence Select Committee recommended that the Ministry of Defence ‘conducts or commissions further research into female personnel, early Service leavers and recruits under 18 to determine the extent to which they are at higher risk of developing mental health conditions.’

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Submission to the Human Rights and the Scottish Parliament inquiry

This submission made by ForcesWatch and Quakers in Scotland to the Scottish Parliament's human rights inquiry details our concerns around the need for regulation and transparent accountability of military activities in schools, the lack of education about peace and human rights, and the continued recruitment of children into the UK armed forces.

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‘Testing the Argument’: MSPs call for report into military visits in Scotland’s schools

Members of the Scottish Parliament have agreed to produce a report into military visits in Scotland’s schools in a response to our petition on the issue.

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