Alarm over treatment of children at Armed Forces Day events
Local authorities around the UK have been challenged over the involvement of children in events to mark Armed Forces Day this weekend (Saturday 30 June). Human rights groups warned that the armed forces are increasingly inviting children to handle weapons at such events, with very few regulations over what is allowed.
The Peace Pledge Union (PPU) has been contacted by people around Britain, including parents and teachers, who are alarmed that local authorities are marketing Armed Forces Day events as "family fun" and giving children an unrealistic image of war.
Fears have grown since an armed forces event in Leicester last weekend, where the mayor had assured local people that no-one under 16 would be allowed to handle weapons. In reality, children of primary school age were invited to handle guns and an army officer called the police to try to remove peaceful demonstrators.
Much of the publicity for Armed Forces Day is aimed at children and families. Examples include a poster produced by West Lothian Council, which promotes Armed Forces Day as "a fun-packed free event for all the family", with a picture of a small child playing while troops appear in the background. At St Peter's Square in Manchester, children will be invited to "sit in the cockpit of a real RAF jet" and "wear real military kit". Seaford is hosting a "children's funfair" alongside a military parade.
The "national event" for Armed Forces Day will this year take place in Llandudno in North Wales, with hundreds of troops marching amidst children's activities and "family" entertainment.
But the PPU predicted that there would be protests against Armed Forces Day in more towns and cities than ever before. As well as a major protest at the national event in Llandudno, protests and vigils are expected in places including Glasgow, Southampton and Blackpool as well as smaller towns such as Folkestone, Guildford and Bury St Edmunds.
Armed Forces Day was introduced in the UK in 2009, in the wake of widespread public opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. By promoting "respect" for the armed forces, critics say that it encourages support for war by the back door.
Many Armed Forces Day events are funded by local authorities, some with grants of up to £10,000 each from the Ministry of Defence. Figures for the total cost to taxpayers of Armed Forces Day have not been provided.
Symon Hill of the Peace Pledge Union, who will travel to Llandudno today to join Saturday's protests, said: "No other institution in Britain could get away with treating children like this. Armed Forces Day gives children the impression that war is exciting and uncomplicated. Young people have a right to make up their own minds about complex ethical issues as they grow up, not to be swamped with thinly veiled pro-war propaganda.
"With the armed forces desperately failing to meet their own recruitment targets, Armed Forces Day events work as recruitment on two levels. They encourage a small number of people towards joining the armed forces, and they recruit a much larger number of people to a pro-military and pro-war mindset."
The Peace Pledge Union (PPU) is a UK-based pacifist network. PPU members pledge not to support war and to work instead for the removal of the causes of war. The PPU' s work includes challenging militarism, promoting active nonviolence, providing educational resources on peace, maintaining records on conscientious objection and encouraging remembrance for all victims of war. The PPU is also known for its distribution of white poppies in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday. Founded in 1934, the PPU is the oldest secular pacifist organisation in the UK. See www.ppu.org.uk and @PPUtoday.
Armed Forces Day has been held in the UK since 2009. There is a "national event" in a different location each year, along with parades, celebrations and other events in many towns and cities. The official website of Armed Forces Day lists the events, many described in terms of "family fun" and "entertainment": www.armedforcesday.org.uk. For more on the Peace Pledge Union's view of Armed Forces Day, see http://ppu.org.uk/AFD2018.html.