Should the armed forces recruit 16-year-olds?
Rachel Taylor, from the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, argues that it is time for British armed forces to join the rest of NATO and stop recruiting people as young as 16.
The Armed Forces: time for change
The present recruitment age of sixteen is too young to enter full time military training. If you are not old enough to vote, buy a pint in a pub, to ride a motorbike or even to buy fireworks are you not also too young to join the army?
At least 1,000 UK soldiers desert
BBC
More than 1,000 members of the British military have deserted since the start of the Iraq war, the BBC has learned.
British conscientious objector refused recognition
Michael Lyons, a medical worker in the British navy, was denied recognition as conscientious objector on 17 December 2010 as the Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objection met for the first time in 14 years.
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.
Parliament urged to end UK’s recruitment of ‘child soldiers’
Navy medic loses appeal over objections to Afghan duty
Fox urged to recognise conscientious objection in Armed Forces Bill
ForcesWatch press release
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.
Cadet school
Peace News
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”.
Poppy Appeal is a political tool to support current wars
Wales On Sunday
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.