legislation & policy
The Last Ambush? Aspects of mental health in the British armed forces
October 2013
This report from ForcesWatch, shows that young soldiers recruited from disadvantaged backgrounds are substantially more likely than other troops to return from war experiencing problems with their mental health. It calls for the policy of recruiting from age 16 to be reviewed so that the greatest burden of risk is not left to the youngest, most vulnerable recruits to shoulder.
War trauma hits young soldiers hardest: new report
27/10/2013ForcesWatch press release
ForcesWatch press release
Young soldiers recruited from disadvantaged backgrounds are substantially more likely than other troops to return from war experiencing problems with their mental health, says a wide-ranging report published today by human rights group ForcesWatch.
ForcesWatch response to the Ministry of Defence’s statement about The Last Ambush, 28 October 2013
27/10/2013ForcesWatch
ForcesWatch
In response to The Last Ambush report, the Ministry of Defence has issued a statement containing some claims that are either inaccurate or not relevant to the report’s findings. Here we respond to each claim in turn.
Youngest Army recruits pay highest price in Afghanistan, new report shows
21/08/2013ForcesWatch and Child Soldiers International press release
ForcesWatch and Child Soldiers International press release
The risk of fatality in Afghanistan for recruits who enlisted into the British Army aged 16 and completed training has been twice as high as it has for those enlisting at 18 or above, according to a study published today on behalf of human rights groups Child Soldiers International and ForcesWatch. The authors believe the increased risk reflects the disproportionately high number of 16 year olds who join front-line Infantry roles.
On the militarisation of the European Union
25/06/2013Quaker Council for European Affairs
Quaker Council for European Affairs
In our work on peace here in Brussels, QCEA is using the lens of militarisation to analyse the changes in the defence policy of the European Union over the last fifteen years. But, what do we mean by militarisation and why should it worry us?
ForcesWatch submission to Defence Select Committee Future Army 2020 inquiry
June 2013
ForcesWatch's submission to the Defence Committee's inquiry Future Army 2020, which recomments an evaluation of the case for an independent review of the minimum age of recruitment into the Army with a view to recruiting only adults (aged 18 and above) in the future, looking at five reasons why the time is right for this.
Army recruitment of under-18s wastes £94 million every year, claims new report
22/04/2013ForcesWatch press release
ForcesWatch press release
The Ministry of Defence wastes up to £94 million every year training minors for army roles which could be filled more cost-effectively by adult recruits, according to a new report launched today by human rights groups Child Soldiers International and ForcesWatch.
Concern over Government schemes promoting ‘military ethos’ in education
07/12/2012ForcesWatch press release
The organisation ForcesWatch (1), which monitors the way young people are recruited into the military, have expressed concern about the announcement made by Education Secretary Michael Gove of four projects which promote 'military ethos' in order to improve achievement among pupils disengaged with education
David Lammy’s Army School for Rioters
17/07/2012Huffington Post
Huffington Post
There was a truly awful article in last week's New Statesman by Tottenham Labour MP David Lammy, accusing 'the left' of a curmudgeonly attitude towards the government's plans for military-staffed 'service schools.'
Lammy condemns critics of the scheme for propagating the idea that ' servicemen and women are "brainwashed", "killers", and hell-bent on converting our sons and daughters to violence' - arguments that he describes as ' nonsense - and offensive nonsense at that.'
With that strawman out of the way, he goes on to argue that
The military already play a hugely positive role in our schools. The Combined Cadet Force and Army Cadet Force are fantastic national institutions. These are organisations which offer adventure training, flying, sailing, white water rafting, and navigating Britain's finest landscapes from Cornwall to the Cairngorms, all for free.
Of course all these activities could and should be available in schools. The problem is that neither school budgets nor the curriculum allow much space for them, not to mention the obsessive risk assessment process which makes schools reluctant to take their kids beyond the school grounds, let alone go canoeing in the Cairngorms.
Labour plan to set up ‘Service Schools’ staffed by soldiers
17/07/2012The Telegraph
The Telegraph
A new generation of “Service Schools” staffed entirely by former members of the Armed Forces could be set up across Britain under Labour plans to raise education standards, it has emerged.