Comment, analysis, news

Defence Committee report challenges the MoD (again) to produce a ‘robust and thorough’ review of under 18 recruitment

The Defence Select Committee have today released their report of inquiry into the MoD's Future Army 2020 plan. Amid the concerns about the strategy of increasing the proportion of reservists in relation to regular forces, the report calls on the MoD “to respond in detail to the argument that the Army could phase out the recruitment of minors without detriment to the Army 2020 plans”. Read our submission to the inquiry here.

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FUTURE ARMY 2020: Defence Committee increases pressure to MoD to raise enlistment age to 18

The Defence Select Committee has increased the pressure on the MoD to stop enlisting minors, in a report published today.

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Disaster militarism

The country’s military institutions must not be seen as deserving of special consideration. Once the ethos of public service has been smashed and discredited by neoliberal restructuring, the danger is that it will take more than an army to bring it back. By Vron Ware.

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Gove’s Troops To Teachers ‘A Costly Flop’

Michael Gove's scheme to train ex-squaddies as teachers was labelled an "expensive flop" yesterday after it was revealed the Tory Education Secretary mustered just 132 recruits.

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Military-style discipline to raise standards in state schools

Former soldiers without degrees will be fast-tracked into teaching and more cadet force units will be established as part of a dramatic expansion of a “military-style” ethos in English state schools

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Multicultural Britain rejecting foreign conflict, MoD admits

Repeat of Afghanistan-or-Iraq-style invasion ruled out for war-weary UK, according to senior officials

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Army helps jobseekers towards employment

Midlands SPEAR (Supporting People into Employment with the Army Reserve) is a pilot scheme created by 143 (West Midlands) Brigade which has caught the attention of government ministers and, if successful, could be rolled out across the UK.

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Fighting the ‘Battle of the Narrative’: Communicating Army 2020

A recent course organised for influencers was designed to convey the British Army’s response to a changing strategic landscape. Despite redeployment from  Afghanistan and Reserve reorganisation, this exercise emphasised that the British Army is still very much in the war-fighting business.

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‘We need more wars’: Head of controversial private outsourcing firm blames lack of conflict for spectacular collapse in Army recruitment since it took charge

The head of a controversial private outsourcing firm accused of presiding over a collapse in Army recruitment has attempted to blame a lack of war for its failure to sign up new soldiers.

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Militarisation in everyday life in the UK: a conference report

In response to the recent developments in the UK, there has been an increase in critical academic studies, media coverage, and work by campaigning organisations and others on these issues. On 19 October 2013, around 70 academics, activists, campaigners, and writers came together in London at the Militarisation in Everyday Life in the UK conference organised by ForcesWatch.

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