wpjf blog

In its enthusiasm to promote itself as a sort of ‘Club 18-30’ where you get paid to go on holiday, the army sometimes forgets to mention the small print, so we went along to help out at an army recruitment drive in Wrexham.

More photos here.  WPJF Press Release here.

Members of Wrexham Peace & Justice Forum who were unable to get to the demonstrations in London and Aberystwyth on Feb 24th, instead teamed up with Wrexham young people to add colour and distribute information at an army recruitment drive by 39 Regiment Royal Artillery in the town centre.

We arrived to discover that Queens Square had been taken over by two huge military vehicles and young children were being encouraged to clamber up and explore one of them, a multiple launched rocket system (MLRS). This vehicle is described on the army website as “a self-propelled artillery rocket system with a range in excess of 30km… a single round of 12 rockets delivers 7,728 bomblets or 336 anti-tank mines.” While the children were greeted by smiling soldiers on one side of the MLRS, a banner on the other side showed the machine in action – nothing to smile about. We strongly object to weapons of mass slaughter being parked in our town centre and presented as entertainment for children. Many passers-by agreed with us.
 

Hundreds of information leaflets were handed out, mainly to young people and their parents, detailing the realities of army life. This included a leaflet produced by AT EASE, alerting young recruits to the binding contracts which can tie them into the army from before their 18th birthday until the age of 22 or later. A second leaflet outlined some of the dangers of army life not usually highlighted by army recruiters, including the bullying regimes at army training barracks, the possible consequences for an individual soldier who refuses to fight in an illegal war, and the lack of care shown by the MoD towards serving soldiers and ex-servicemen and women.

• who has been camped in Parliament Square for nearly 6 years in protest at the effect of our government’s foreign policy on ordinary people in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere;
• who, along with his supporters, has been subject to the most appalling oppression by the police;
• who has had a law, SOCPA, drafted specifically to try and get rid of him;
• who has recently won several court battles against the police interpretation of this law;
• whose display was stolen in the night by police and has now been re-created as an art exhibition in Tate Britain

has won Channel 4’s "Most Inspiring Political Figure Award" for 2007 with a massive 54% of the total vote.
 
In his acceptance speech, Brian said:
 
"I would like to say a warm thank you to everyone who voted for me. This is a vote against this government’s killing, maiming, torture, stealing. It’s a vote for the children of Iraq and Afghanistan, for all our children - our future. For truth, justice, peace and democracy for all."
 
Mysteriously (Fix!), Tony Blair was also amongst the shortlisted candidates, but polled just 8% of the vote.  Inspiring political figure?  Don’t make me laugh.

 

 
It’s about time Blair & co. caught up with public opinion.  Put a stop to the ongoing police harassment of Brian and his friends and listen to what they’re saying.  It’s a sad state of affairs when we have a war criminal for prime minister while people who try to draw attention to these war crimes are criminalised.  Freedom and democracy?  You decide.
 
 

Local Peace Campaigners were in Wrexham town centre on Saturday 3rd Feb collecting signatures for a petition against the TRIDENT nuclear weapons programme.

Saturday morning shoppers were surprised to see a five foot model of a missile outside Milletts on Hope Street. Members of the public were invited to express their opinions on alternative uses for the estimated £25 billion cost of replacing Trident by writing them down and sticking them to the missile.  Suggestions included more spending on health, education and other public services, helping those who live in poverty, and “anything but this!”

The stall was organised by campaigners from Wrexham Peace and Justice Forum, some of whom were amongst the 19 people from Wales arrested at a blockade of the Faslane Nuclear Weapons facility in November of last year.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament argues that the huge sum required to replace Trident might be better spent paying for 120,000 newly qualified nurses every year for the next ten years.

The Prime Minister renewed the UK’s commitment to Trident in December of last year, prior to a debate in Parliament which will take place in March. He referred to the threat of global terrorism and stated that it would be ‘unwise and dangerous for Britain, alone of any of the nuclear powers, to give up its independent nuclear deterrent’.

Genny Bove of WPJF said: “Britain signed up to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty nearly 40 years ago.  No serious efforts have been made towards nuclear disarmament in all those years and it is this which makes the world such a dangerous place and encourages other countries to want to join the nuclear club.  Possession on nuclear weapons does nothing to protect us from global terrorism and, in fact, makes us more of a target.  The best way to make the world safer would be to get rid of our nuclear weapons and to spend the money on something socially useful, such as measures to combat climate change, reduce poverty and improve public services.”

More pictures can be seen here.