Comment, analysis, news

Armed forces report reveals MPs’ confusion over recruitment of under-18s

The report by the House of Commons Committee on the Armed Forces Bill has rejected proposals to raise the minimum age of recruitment to 18.  But ForcesWatch, an NGO that submitted evidence to the Committee, suggests that the wording of the report reveals a lack of clarity over the law in this area, even among MPs and senior military personnel.

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‘Boy soldiers’ artwork shown outside Parliament

A three-dimensional art installation depicting child soldiers is being displayed outside the Houses of Parliament as part of a peace campaign.

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Cadet forces to be expanded in state schools

Military 'spirit' is to be encouraged in classrooms with the expansion of cadet forces in state schools.

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One in 10 Army recruits ‘bullied and intimidated’

A decade after Deepcut, MoD reports reveal failure to tackle problem affecting hundreds of trainees.

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More than 17,000 episodes of troops going Awol since 2003

British soldiers have gone on the run from their posts on more than 17,000 occasions since the start of the Iraq war, The Independent can reveal.

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At least 1,000 UK soldiers desert

More than 1,000 members of the British military have deserted since the start of the Iraq war, the BBC has learned.

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Fox urged to uphold conscientious objection in Armed Forces Bill

Defence Secretary Liam Fox is being urged to uphold the right of armed forces personnel to be given a discharge if they develop a conscientious objection.

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Parliament urged to end UK’s recruitment of ‘child soldiers’

Children and young people's rights groups are calling for a change in the law to end the recruitment of 16 and 17-year-olds into the UK armed forces.

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Cadet school

Controversial plans to radically expand military cadet corps in English state secondary schools are being pushed forward by Ed Balls, the Children’s Secretary, apparently backed by No 10. The plans were the idea of Quentin Davies, a Labour MP who defected from the Tories last year, and come on the back of a government-commissioned review of “civil and military relations”.

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Poppy Appeal is a political tool to support current wars

The true meaning of the poppy is being forgotten as it becomes a political tool to support current wars, a former elite soldier has claimed. Ben Griffin, the first SAS soldier to refuse to go into combat, also said the use of the word "hero" to describe soldiers glorified war and was an "attempt to stifle criticism" of conflicts the UK is currently fighting.

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