The Peace Party is in business to eliminate all war as an instrument of government policy. It acknowledges though that, at present, Governments are given the responsibility by the People to take the United Kingdom to war, be it in Iraq or Afghanistan or in the scores of places across the world over the past decades and centuries. It is thus clearly the responsibility of governments to ensure that the men and women sent to fight the wars are cared for at every stage by those governments. Full stop. And that includes the care for the injured and traumatised until they are fit enough to return to civilian life – or life in the military. The British Legion and its project recently highlighted (“Battle Back Challenge Centre”) must be fully funded by the Government – the taxpayer – and must never be dependent on private donations.

The Peace Party joins with others in the "peace movement" in recognising that there is a crisis over the war in Afghanistan. The rate of deaths of NATO soldiers is rising all the time, as is the number of Afghan casualties. Despite talk of withdrawal by 2014, the new coalition government is continuing the war policy of its predecessor, slavishly supporting the US in its war on terror. The war has led to greater instability and its result has been the opposite of its declared aim; the world is a much more dangerous place today.

The only reference George Osborne made to defence expenditure in the new Government's budget this week was the announcement of an increase - the doubling to nearly £5000 of the operational allowance paid to British soldiers deployed to Afghanistan.

Following an article in The Guardian on Tuesday, 8th June, 2010, Jeff Bolam and John Morris wrote the following letter to that newspaper: "The Peace Party – but no other that we have ever heard of – has always adopted the policy advocated by Simon Jenkins in The Guardian of 8th June: 'My once in a generation cut? The armed forces. All of them.' This would be a saving of £45 Billion every year for eternity. That is the kind of cut in public spending we need; not the health service, not education, not social services, not housing."

Diana Francis, a conflict transformation professional has recently seen the publication of her latest book, "From Pacification to Peacebuilding". In this she reflects on both the practice of conflict transformation over the last twenty years or so and the connection between that practice and 'big politics'.

This Saturday (5th June, 2010) several thousand people will take part in 50 simultaneous actions in 25 countries as a response to the Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference, which concluded last Friday. The demonstrators aim to build public and political support for the negotiation of a comprehensive treaty banning nuclear weapons — a Nuclear Weapons Convention.

Worldwide military expenditure in 2009 totalled an estimated $1531 billion, according to new figures released today by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). This represents an increase of 5.9% in real terms compared to 2008 and an increase of 49% since 2000.

If an armed group of Somali pirates had yesterday boarded six vessels on the high seas, killing at least 10 passengers and injuring many more, a NATO taskforce would today be heading for the Somali coast. What happened yesterday in international waters off the coast of Gaza was the work of Israeli commandos, not pirates, and no NATO warships will in fact be heading for Israel.

John Morris, Guildford Peace and Environmental Activist has written to the Surrey Advertiser thanking it for informing residents that Guildford Council has decided to replace the heating system in its Millmead offices with one burning woodchip fuel. It is indeed a welcome, but small, step towards a time when the Earth’s population will need to reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide to the levels last seen in the mid to late nineteenth century.

'All beings tremble before violence.

Peace Party Chairman, Geoff Pay, condemned the arrest this morning of Brian Haw, the anti-war protester camped outside parliament, as police cleared demonstrators ahead of the Queen's speech. “Is this the new freedom promoted by our Con-Lib Government?” wondered Geoff. “Are we actually a police state now the Tories and Lib-Dems are in charge?”

John Morris seeks reader's views on the draft of the following declaration, modified from "The Westminster Declaration", published in April, 2010.

John Morris, Peace Party Candidate for Guildford received the following text yesterday: "Thank you for taking a stand and giving me an alternative to vote for."

The University of Surrey recently ran a poll asking students which candidate they will be voting for in the general election. The candidates for the three big parties attracted 95% support. John Morris, Peace Party Candidate for Guildford was invited to comment on the results of the poll.

The doctrine of “Responsibility to Protect” has recently come to the notice of The Peace Party and the note which follows attempts to bring readers up to date with the concept – from a World Summit in 2005 to a report published by the UN Secretary General at the beginning of 2009. Although military action is not now specified in Principle 3 of that Report, the Peace Party is very concerned lest future developments of "Responsibility to Protect" enshrine such action in an international agreement.

Here are my final thoughts on this subject, final that is in this series of articles: the subject will never fail to inspire me with hope for humankind in its fascinating ideology.

The following article appeared in the May edition of "Spirit and Destiny", the magazine "for women who want the best possible future".

For a mainstream politician peace is a problem. There are no votes in it. Even Barak Obama, who seems to have maintained a fundamentally anti-militaristic stance has had to trade belligerence in Afghanistan against a projected 30% reduction in nuclear weapons. As if getting rid of 30% of the things made any difference, except psychologically.

Take a few moments when you are listening to the news, or watching it on television or reading the papers,to analyse the kind of language being used when the subject of the General Election is being discussed. You will find on every occasion there is an item on the election that violent and militaristic metaphors and words are commonly used. Both politicians and the various forms of the media use an array of unpleasant imagery to convey what they see as important points to make to woo the electors. It is as if they are colluding in an attempt to portray politics and the politicians attempts to win over voters to their policies as a very nasty struggle. Here are some of the words and terms in frequent use:
'....our campaign'
'...our foot soldiers' ( when speaking of supporters)
'..the battle to win....'
'..retreating...'
'...fighting ( your corner)
'....dangers'
'....targets'
'....in my sights..'
' ...ferocious backlash'
'...going to slash and burn'
'..the election war chest'

John Morris, Prospective Peace Party Candidate for Guildford has replied to a Guildford resident who asked, "I am writing to you today in support of Save the Children's Poverty Kills Childhood Campaign, and because I am sure we share a belief that all children, wherever they are born, deserve an equal chance to grow up healthy and fulfil their potential. But child poverty still threatens the futures of millions of children at home and abroad: (a) 1.7 million children live in severe poverty here in the UK, and (b) 8.8 million children in the world’s poorest countries die every year before their fifth birthday"

Non-violence is very powerful. We have to put people right who are mistaken. Some leading politicians are merely men who are mistaken. They’re not evil – only partially good when they think they are totally good. ‘The frenzied insistence on being right is the most characteristic feature of lawful violence. In fact it is an uncontrollable passion. It is accompanied by the conviction that the enemy is not only bad and of bad faith, but that he is Evil itself, and that getting rid of him is the only means of getting rid of the evil. The error is so gross that it seems improbable that even a fool should fall into it, but the most intelligent people are taken in by it as soon as their anger gets the better of their judgment. And whole peoples suddenly judge whole peoples in this way, and there you have the crazy reason for wars. So the frontier between Good and Evil is the frontier between us and them! This is what one may indeed call simple-mindedness.’ (Lanza del Vasto)

I DREAM OF A DAY, I DREAM OF A DAY ... WHEN WE ALL REMEMBER, I DREAM OF THE DAY ... WHEN THERE IS PEACE ON EARTH

The Peace Party expresses its dismay at the continued detention of children who are subject to immigration control in Britain. It remains deeply concerned at what amounts to the imprisonment of children despite very clear guidance from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees that young people should not be subject to immigration detention. The Peace Party does not consider that this practice reflects the humane values of this country or corresponds to any proper understanding of the rule of law.

Underscoring his administration’s commitment to continue the already eight and a half year long occupation of Afghanistan, President Barack Obama made a surprise visit today (28th March, 2010) and delivered a bloodcurdling speech declaring the war ‘absolutely essential.’ Citing 9/11, President Obama insisted that continuing the conflict makes all Americans "safer", and assured the military present that “everyone” knows the importance of the continued occupation of the landlocked nation. Hands up those that do ?

One aspect of a pacifistic response to conflict or threatened violence may take the form of civil disobedience. This may well be necessary if we are being ushered into yet another precarious and unbalanced situation. It may mean that direct action, persuasion, propaganda and protest are to be considered - all non-violent, of course.. How would we react, put to the test, of being forced to be a combatant? Might it only be then that we consider these strategies?

Many people believe in a 'just war'; they think it's all right to pick and choose with your wars. Religious views may well support this concept. But if you preserve the possibility of war you exclude its permanent abolition. It's a very weak position to take.

'And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.'

War could be outlawed in much the same way as the old Slave Trade between West Africa, the West Indies and Britain was outlawed.....but is human life sacred or is it not? Is there such a principle operating in human affairs? Generally I would say 'yes': the vast majority of people go out of their way to protect and safeguard human life and keep people safe from harmful influences. Just think of the enormous sums of government cash spent on health and welfare.

Where
There is the poverty

The European Commission has just approved growing genetically modified crops in the European Union for the first time in 12 years! Caving in to the GM lobby, the Commission has ignored 60% of Europeans who feel they have to get the facts first before growing foods that could pose a threat to our health and environment.

The use of women to make dangerous explosives in the Second World War was not new.

Many folk claim they are ‘anti-war’ and peace loving but then hurriedly add that they are not pacifist. I wonder why that is? I don’t have answers to the questions that concern us all but I do think that discussing features of pacifist thought and ideas is helpful to the human condition.

It is not the first time that a killer whale, or orca, has killed its trainer. The question to be asked is 'should any animal be kept in captivity?' Some people think that it is educational for children to see animals performing silly acts for the entertainment of humans, but is this really education?

John Morris (Peace Party Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Guildford) sent the following letter to The Editor of The Surrey Advertiser recently: "Your local free sister paper, the "Surrey Times" of 27th February, carried an article entitled, 'Army challenge gives students a taste of life in the armed forces'."

Julie Roxburgh replied to a recent letter in the Surrey Advertiser about deer hunting. She admitted to being puzzled by the letter and said, " The implication is that the real danger to deer is by dog walkers who 'think it funny to let their dogs chase deer'."

Julie Roxburgh writes, "Explosive tests by the Ministry of Defence using live pigs has saved the lives of British soldiers, according to Grantham MP Quentin Davies. The MOD has killed 119 pigs since 2006 in bomb tests designed to improve the treatment of soldiers suffering blast injuries. Mr Davies who is a junior defence minister, alleges that the research has ‘saved many lives in the theatres of Iraq and Afghanistan’."

Recruiters from the British Regular Army visit London's poorest schools most often, new research shows. The research looked into the amount of mainstream secondary state schools visited by the army between September 2008 and April 2009 in Greater London. It also looked at whether the proportion varied with the level of deprivation of the school students, measured using the percentage of children eligible for free school meals.

John Morris, Prospective Peace Party Parliamentary Candidate for Guildford, issued a media release to the local press and radio this week, stating, "This note is to let you know that I am promoting my candidature in the general election by introducing myself and the Party to passers-by on the streets in the Guildford Constituency for one hour each day."

Thousands of young soldiers, once they leave the army, find themselves unable to get jobs in ‘civvy street’ and so become well-paid mercenaries, wrote Julie Roxburgh having read an article by Jonathan Owen in the Independent on Sunday recently.

A report commissioned by the British government shows how its pro-business agenda during its 13 years in office has led to a dramatic increase in inequality. An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK was the result of 16 months research by the National Equality Panel.

Today, the UK MSN News were running a poll among visitors to its website, asking the question, "How confident are you that the Iraq inquiry will be able to produce a truthful account of the causes and consequences of the war?" Of the 32,670 replies received by around 9 o'clock this evening, 55% of the people chose to agree with the statement, "I have no confidence in the inquiry and think its findings will be nothing more than a whitewash."

After the injured are treated, the dead buried and the survivors fed, clothed and sheltered, Haiti must rebuild. As this country faces the challenge of starting over – and building homes, neighbourhoods and infrastructure that can withstand future earthquakes – the last thing Haiti will need is to be saddled with debt.

"On the radio this morning," writes Carol, "as I was driving in to work, they had a piece on the defence spending review with no consideration at all about whether or not ANY spending on defence was necessary. The same old assumptions were there and not questioned. As my partner always keeps reminding me, the BBC are part of the establishment and it isn’t in their brief to question such assumptions."

Some time ago, an article appeared in these notes, describing the results of the now annual production of the “Global Peace Index” by the Vision of Humanity organisation based in Australia. Sadly, but hardly unsurprisingly, the United Kingdom came in at 35th place in the Index. (New Zealand was at first place.)

There’s something seriously wrong, rotten you might say, about a society in which young boys of Primary school age submit others of their own age to systematic and horrific torture and violently degrading treatment. The BBC News at 1 o’clock today headlined with two stories – this appalling tale from south Yorkshire and the fatuous, useless and senseless Iraq War Enquiry. We in the Peace Party make the connections about events that may seem at first glance to be unconnected. Our politicians knowingly led our country into one of the worst humanitarian disasters the world has seen- an illegal, totally immoral and senseless adventure in the Suez spirit of British brazen arrogance in our foreign policy. So we have a government that will spend ‘whatever it takes’ as Brown said as Chancellor about cash for the war. And on the other hand we have families so run-down that their children turn into barbaric, wild and lawless gangsters at the age of 10. Let’s not be surprised by these events; the public and political are not hermetically sealed from the rest of society. The social ecology encompasses all. Those families that produce demons instead of children, perhaps unwittingly, take their cue from the general ethos of the society they live in. If that is one where anything goes and lies and violence and subterfuge reign, then why not join in on a personal and family level? People in government of integrity, committed to non-violence as a governing principle in society, and to humility and truthfulness might just have a better influence than they do at present. And perhaps they might then have some more funds made available to help out families in desperate need of re-socialisation. A very sad state of affairs.

The Accord following the Copenhagen meeting on Global Warming and consequent possible climate changes has not been widely reproduced. The Peace Party takes the opportunity to set out all its points here and urges readers to compare these with its policies on our natural and man-made surroundings.

John Morris, Prospective Peace Party candidate for Guildford wrote this letter to The Editor of The Surrey Advertiser in December: "I see that Cranleigh Parish Council is proposing to join the other parts of Waverley Borough Council in giving “support” for the UK armed forces (Surrey Advertiser, 25th December, 2009). But very little reason for giving that support is actually discussed in the article apart from “recognition of the contribution made to national security” and “admiration for the work they are doing”.

I keep thinking, writes Julie Roxburgh, especially at this time of year, about the beautiful song ‘What a wonderful world’, so touchingly sung by Louis Armstrong.

Media hype prior to the Monarch’s Christmas Broadcast lead John Morris to critically review some of the statements made in it. Sentence fragments in quotes are followed by his reaction to them.

With Britain facing its biggest economic crisis since the Second World War and much debate on public spending levels and priorities, the country can ill-afford to be spending in excess of £76bn on replacing Trident with a new generation of nuclear weapons.

To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,
To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like coral in all of the neighboring gardens,
And to-day we have naming of parts.

This is the lower sling swivel. And this
Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,
When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,
Which in your case you have not got. The branches
Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
Which in our case we have not got.

This is the safety-catch, which is always released
With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy
If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms
Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see
Any of them using their finger.

And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
They call it easing the Spring.

They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,
And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,
Which in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom
Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,
For to-day we have naming of parts.

“Through Thick and Thin: Tackling Child Poverty in Hard Times” is the title of UNICEF’s research into contemporary social conditions facing British children. With the number of jobless workers approaching 2.5 million, the report describes the impact of the downturn on the most vulnerable sections of the population. The opening line sets the scene: “Rising joblessness has created a new crisis of child poverty in Britain.”

Looking for a peaceful life? Then New Zealand is officially the best place to be, according to 2009's Global Peace Index.(website: www.visionof humanity.org) Out of 144 countries surveyed, it topped the table as the most peaceful on earth.
The Global Peace Index has won the support of and influential and distiguished group, many of whom are themselves dedicated to the promotion of global peace, including the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Sir Richard Bransom.
Every year a panel of international experts award points around 25 indicators, such as a country's sum total of internal conflicts, its respect for human rights, degrees of democracy, transparency and education. New Zealand ranked first due to a number of factors, including its low level of violent crime, amicable foreign policy, restrictions on weapons and low level of military expenditure.
'Because they work better with others, peaceful nations can constructively solve some of our most pressing economic, social and environmental problems' said Clyde McConaghy, who co-produced the Index. 'Indeed, peace is the prerequisite for helping solve major challenges, such as food and water scarcity, decreasing biodiversity and climate change.'
New Zealand's reputation and its firm anti-nuclear stance were also highlighted at the opening of the 'World March for Peace'. The country's capital, Wellington, hosted the launch, before the procession set off through 90 countries.
'We chose New Zealand as the starting point because they were the very first country to grant women the vote, to legally ban nuclear weapons and the first and only nation to officially establish a Minister for Disarmament,' says Rafael de la Rubia, World Without Wars founder and spokesperson for the March.
The country's achievements have also led to other accolades this year, making it a multi-award-winning nation.
The ten most peaceful nations on the Index are as follows:
NEW ZEALAND
DENMARK
NORWAY
ICELAND
AUSTRIA
SWEDEN
JAPAN
CANADA
FINLAND
SLOVENIA
......and where does the U.K come out of the 144...35th place...and the U.S.A? - 83rd

Julie Roxburgh writes, “It has been said that those who are cruel to animals as a child grow up to be bullies and even child molesters themselves. I don’t believe that children are inherently cruel; only give a child a cuddly toy or a picture of a kitten or puppy and almost every one will coo and be delighted. They hug the toy and often fill their beds with cuddly toys. Then comes the time when they ask ‘what is meat?’

John Morris wrote the following letter to The Editor of The Surrey Advertiser: "John Miles, of West Clandon, (Surrey Advertiser, 20th November, 2009) challenges those who expect to be contesting the next General Election to tackle the issue that he sees as being more important than local green belt issues or global warming, namely, the growth of the planet’s human population.

The principle of compassion lies at the heart of The Peace Party. Compassion impels us to place all humanity at the centre of our world and to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of those less fortunate than ourselves. Peace People honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect, just as we would wish to be treated ourselves.

In
The name of justice
There is
In this world
Carried out
The worlds injustice

The Peace Party is radical in its views and its outlook. It believes in being truthful and totally above board and in instituting those policies that are most thoroughly conducive to lasting world-wide peaceful co-existence. We know that this is the ONLY way to go and that at some time in human evolution this ideal can be achieved.

Members of the Peace Party tend to wear a white poppy. Why is this and is it an insult to the brave young people out there in the Middle East giving their lives? Not at all. The history of the red poppy began at the end of the First World War (the'war to end all wars'!) and was inspired by the poem of John McCrae 'In Flanders Fields', which has the lines, 'If ye break faith with us who die, We shall not sleep, though poppies grow, In Flanders Fields.' the American Moina Bell Michael began selling poppies to raise money for ex-service people. This has continued ever since although there has been a Second world War and various hideous wars since throughout the last century and cascading into this. So this is why our poppies are white. We still remember the dead of all the wars, but where red suggests blood, white suggests peace. So this is why our poppies are white; to encourage folks to think again about the 'glories' of war and to stop them from sending the flower of our youth out to be killed.

Paths
With thorns
Faces
With tears
Lights
With shadows

With the recent financial crisis, poverty is skyrocketing in poorer countries, with 1 in 6 people on the planet now facing life-threatening hunger.

On October 25, 2009, President Barack Obama signed a $680 billion defence budget for the next fiscal year, which includes $170 billion in funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

What I can't understand about the men of violence - be they terrorists, freedom fighters or the military - is how they can kill people they know next to nothing about. Ordinary people would find this very difficult, I imagine. They must have to be very carefully trained or 'de-socialised/brutalised' to hate unknown people with such venom that they are quite prepared to justify killing them. They must have been brainwashed into not allowing themselves to have any finer feelings about them or interest in them at all. those out there are 'the enemy'; they are all wicked/evil and have to be summarily despatched. No attention has to be given to their background, environment, personal circumstances, beliefs, livelihood, religion, families, hopes, dreams and so on. In becoming trained killers, though, people lose touch even more with their essential humanity. Our true nature as human beings is to love and care for others - to be cooperative and helpful, generous and kind and considerate. If they hate people who are unseen and unknown to them it is a dereliction of one of their primary duties or instincts as a fully developed and fully socialised human being. Not only that but it must cause grave internal conflicts within their whole being resulting in forms of ill health and violence in other areas of their life.
Jeff Bolam

In a recent poll 82% of Britons said that religion does more harm than good. I wonder if a similar result might come from a poll asking people if they thought that politicians did more harm than good? It’s certainly rare to hear someone roundly praising a politician for his or her wisdom and good works! If people are disenchanted with our politicians and maybe the political system too, why is this?

Greed’s
Force

A Peace Party member writes, "I was speaking to a friend of mine in Pakistan. He said the intelligence service in Pakistan is over-run by C.I.A., by M.I.6, by the former K.G.B.and by Mossad.
This friend is a journalist there. He said that Pakistan is at war from within and that their aim is to shut down the country. The K.G.B have got old scores to settle with the UK and the USA and their allies who helped them at that time to break the Soviet Union down.

Britain is to dispatch an additional "500 units of cannon fodder" to Afghanistan. At the same time, the United States is planning a massive build-up of tens of thousands of additional units of cannon fodder. Currently 9,000 UK personnel and US 65,000 troops occupy the country. Taken with the 124,000 personnel still in Iraq, these occupation forces outnumber the 186,000 involved in conflict under President Bush.

The war goes on
Like a heart
That has lost
Its heartbeats

So, the consultancy firm Oxford Economics is encouraging political parties to become committed to what they call "a very sharp cut in immigration". The only reason advanced for this in a recent news item in "Metro" (19th October, 2009 - "Immigrant Population grows by 2m") was that it would provoke a far right backlash.

My country
Is crying tears
Of blood

It's not only the warring and the CO2 that we have to think of, if we are a party of Peace and the Environment (not to mention Justice), but what creates the main problems in this world of ours. Of course, humans are behind it all, and greed feeds those humans, and oil feeds that greed.

Julie Roxburgh has commented on the way most poultry and beef herds are treated, and she now comes to marine creatures. Much research has been covered regarding the ability of fish to feel pain and fear, and yet the way they are caught either commercially or for ‘sport’ is truly appalling. Suppose your kitten or puppy were playing on the river bank and suddenly it was caught by a great hook in its mouth and dragged into the river, where it slowly drowned? The main areas of fish nerves centre in the mouth, and this is where the hook normally strikes in sport fishing. Or it might be swallowed, in which case it has to be disgorged, sometimes bringing up the entire stomach of the fish.

"Kindness and compassion towards all living beings is a mark of a civilized society.

Having been invited to appear on Press TV today, The Peace Party later expressed concern at the announcement of the award of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. It fails to respect the intentions expressed by Alfred Nobel in his will, said the Party. Nobel wrote that the Peace Prize is to go to whoever "shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.

Remembrance Day ( that ‘show biz’ as Harry Patch called it) is just over a month away; the good and the faithful and the religious – let’s not forget them – will be trooping to memorials around the country. Why? To remember those who died so that we might live in freedom? There might possibly have been some truth in this 60 years ago, but today…I don’t think so. In any case all the remembrance in the world doesn’t change the fact that the politicians and generals are still at the same games they have been playing to deadly effect for so long now. Only now it is different. Now the main casualties are civilians not the military. And now we in the UK have played a major part in creating one of the greatest humanitarian disasters the world has ever known in the form of the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan and their appalling aftermath. The government created this horrendous mess so they must pick up the bill for it by way of providing for those in our forces and their families left bereaved or horribly scarred and wounded.

Members of The Peace Party have noted that all three parties aspiring to take part in the next government are saying that spending on those services on which all people rely is to be cut in the near future. For some of those reading this, no hardship will result – they will up their spending on health savings schemes, perhaps, or just subsidise their daughters and sons more heavily in their higher education or pay for private tuition when the children’s learning begins to suffer at school.

The young man from the British forces said he had no regrets apart from losing both legs and an arm, writes Julie Roxburgh. There had been many amputations these last few months and all the hospital beds were taken up by young men with horrific wounds, covered in bandages; faces bandaged; stumps of limbs wrapped in clean linen and the whole ward run on military lines.

Read the paper
Whatta you see
War in Asia
Hunger and greed
Murder in the Bronx
Rape in the park
Pollution in the city
Tomorrow looks so dark

During the 1980s, The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection held a meeting to discuss what would be the easiest area of vivisection to bring to an end. Many suggestions were made, such as smoking, household products and even pharmaceuticals, but finally we arrived at beauty products.

The Guardian is currently producing a series of booklets about the Second World War and in particular about the outbreak of hostilities in Europe on the 70th anniversary.

In a recent conversation a good friend of mine said, with some irritation, 'You always have a problem with the military.' The immediate cause of her annoyance was my lack of enthusiasm for the Red Arrows. I had previously caused similar irritation by a lack of enthusiasm for a display put on by a naval college. I forget the precise details but I think it was a performance by a military band.

The funeral of the last British survivor of the trenches of the First World War was held in Wells Cathedral on Hiroshima Day (6 August) attended with pomp and circumstance, and solemn honours from politicians and the mainstream media. While they proclaimed their respect for Harry Patch, who died at the age of 111, political leaders and media commentators almost entirely ignored the core message to which Harry Patch devoted his last years.

It is always good to know that some of the greatest people in the world care about the planet and all its creatures. On reading a book on animal suffering and the law, I found the following quotes:

Unfortunately, until the dysfunctional thinking of seeing war as a problem solving mechanism is gone and until the arms dealers lose their power by coming up against politicians with integrity and intelligence, there will never be an end to war. That probably means there will never be an end to war. Unless of course ordinary people demand an end to war.

More UK soldiers are dying in Afghanistan, but while most of Britain has turned against the war, the country can't seem to profit from its past mistakes, writes Alex Mitchell in London. The funeral of 111-year-old Harry Patch in Somerset on 6 August provided one of those moments that the British love: pomp, patriotism, ceremony, nostalgia, national mourning and thousands of Union Jacks at half-mast.

In the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist strikes in the United States and the London bombings of July 7, 2005, we have seen range of events that impacted, altered and strengthened the need to discuss and debate questions of peace and security in international relations. The Middle East crisis, escalating violence in Iraq, the growing threat of North Korea nuclear capabilities, the Darfur Crisis in African: all represent topical global security issues.

The driving motivation for this work is an attempt to combine two career approaches; (as a journalist and peace activist), to uncover and recover the study of Conflict Transformation in Africa. To put it differently, to examine a model of dispute resolution across state boundaries in Africa as symbolized by the peaceful resolution of the age-long border dispute between two close-nit Sub-Saharan African neighbors; Nigeria and Republic of Cameroon.

The widow of a soldier who was killed in Afghanistan on the day of the recent elections, when asked if she thought he might have died 'in vain', said that she didn't believe he had, 'because if I thought that it would make it even harder to bear.'

The news really doesn’t get any better. More young men are dying along with civilians in a war-torn country which is trying desperately to become democratic; meanwhile, in the so-called democratic countries, we are doing our best to destroy the planet. Most of us lead an incredibly luxurious lifestyle compared with many peoples in other parts of the world, and we feel outraged if a train is late or the water tank is cold for some reason. Everything must be perfect and now!

Taking part in a demonstration or a protest may achieve at the very least the raising of the profile of the issue or problem under consideration. This depends to a certain extent on how well and how widely the action is reported. If there were to be a total news blackout on the action then it might well be thought of as pointless since how then could anyone be affected or influenced by it? If it is reported, even briefly, in the mainstream media, then it may possibly increase awareness of the matter in hand. Having the protest in the first place shows that people are not passive or accepting of actions they disagree with. The ‘not in my name’ placards of protests against recent British wars exemplify this spirit.

Inequalities underlie so many conflicts and the often resulting wars. It is not surprising then that so many of the Peace Party’s policies look for the urgent removal of those inequalities not only within the UK and EU but also in the wider world.

Wilfred Owen's First World War poem 'Dulce et Decorum Est' comes from the first line of an Ode by Horace and means 'it is sweet and right'. Owen ends his poem with the added words 'Pro patria mori' - to die for your country. He calls this the 'old lie' after describing the death of a comrade drowning in the dreadful gas which destroyed so many lives.

Britain was blessed with a wise and a visionary government. The days of the likes of Alan Duncan and Hazel Blears were long since ended and people of integrity, honesty and good purpose were instead installed in government. Those in power believed in taking pre-emptive action to defuse or curtail problems, to prevent potential problems getting out of hand and always to employ non-violent methods to resolve conflict situations.

Day by inexorable day, the death toll of the British forces in Afghanistan is announced in the British media (195 since 2001). But what of the civilian death toll? Why do we never hear about that? In fact, it has risen by 24 per cent this year, the United Nations has said, to a staggering 1091 in the first six months of this year.

To produce 1 kilogram of beef requires 100,000 litres of water and 10 kilograms of feed. Since land reduction is becoming a national problem, it is believed that developing countries will turn almost entirely to factory farming for meat production. But however intensively meat is reared, it still cannot feed the world’s poor, who don’t have enough foodstuffs to feed themselves, let alone find land to grow feed for their cattle.

At last a serving soldier in the British Army has seen the light – and is threatened with court martial for his pains. L/Cpl Joe Glenton is urging the Prime Minister to bring the soldiers home from Afghanistan. He says that the war in Afghanistan is bringing death and devastation to their country and adds that Britain has no business to be there.

Pomerania has invaded Britain. ‘Sleepers’ unknowingly ‘embedded’ in key positions in British life sprang into action last night disabling most transport and communication links and helped planes carrying thousands of Pomeranian troops disembark at small and disused airports around the country. The government and security services had no knowledge of this activity until they were alerted by UK residents who spotted men in unknown uniforms stationed at key intersections and on the outskirts of many towns.

The Happy Planet Index is an innovative measure that shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered around the world. It is the first ever index to combine environmental impact with well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which country by country, people live long and happy lives.

"On Monday I attended a meeting at Woking Council Offices to discuss the 'Memorandum of Understanding'," writes Julie Roxburgh. This states clearly and with the support of Surrey Police the behaviour expected from all candidates, supporters and canvassers during elections.

‘Taxpayers Angry At Seagull Rescue’ was the dramatic headline in last week’s Lyme Regis News. Whether or not this represented the views of a majority of residents in the town will never be known, but the reporter had built this into the page one headline story. What had happened was that a baby seagull had become hopelessly trapped by its wing on a house chimney. The RSPCA were called and could not help the unfortunate bird so the fire department were called in to effect a rescue, which they did. The total cost for this operation was said to be in the region of £200 to £ 250. According to the reporter it had angered many residents that their tax money should be so pitifully squandered on a baby seagull.

"As we believe that all creatures deserve the right to life, liberty and the freedom to express themselves according to their natural needs," writes Julie Roxburgh, "I am writing this article dedicated to poultry and the miserable life they lead in factory farms."

Seumas Milne of 'The Guardian' writes: (Over the past few weeks) politicians, media and the military have strained every nerve to turn public sympathy over the deaths of British squaddies into support for the US-led occupation of Afghanistan. After a year of parades, a new Armed Forces Day and a stream of censored reports of derring-do from the frontline, the killing of 15 soldiers in 10 days triggered a barrage of war propaganda. Having all but ignored the same number who died in Helmand province last month, every tabloid and Whitehall stop has been pulled out to capitalise on the emotions unleashed by the continuing sacrifice of British teenagers in an endless war.

Following the “Article 9 & Article 12 Conference – Peace Constitutions for Global Disarmament”, held at the Port of Puntarenas, Costa Rica on 16 July 2009, the participants reminded the readers of their concluding declaration how they had emphasised the local, regional and global value of the key principles established in Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution and of Article 12 of the Costa Rican Constitution.

Politicians Lies and Nonsense

On thinking about peace and what it really means for all people, writes Julie, I look on my own 'patch' as a microcosm of society in general. Therefore, when I go leafletting and canvassing, I expect to get all kinds of reaction to the idea of dismantling the armed forces and turning them into one big peace force; how to fund a world without arms and how to deal with tyrants.

It is so, so sad to hear and read of the continuing slaughter of young men – and one young woman – in Afghanistan. We can only grieve for their families and friends and just hope that someone soon will see sense and say, “No more shall die and suffer”.

At its meeting on 2nd July, 2009 the Executive Committee of the Peace Party started to consider the following questions concerning the future of the Party. The Committee welcomes the views of readers of the Blog.

On 8 June the widely-respected Stockholm International Peace Research Institute launched the 2009 edition of its Yearbook on Armaments, "Disarmament and International Security".

Deepak Chopra has written to Barack Obama as follows, "You have been elected by the first anti-war constituency since 1952, when Eisenhower was elected after promising to end the Korean War. But ending a war isn't the same as bringing peace. America has been on a war footing since the day after Pearl Harbor, sixty-seven years ago. We spend more on our military than the next sixteen countries combined. If you have a vision of change that goes to the heart of this country's deep problems, ending our dependence on war is far more important than ending our dependency on foreign oil."

Peace is not the product of terror or fear.

Quite simply, the Peace Party response is, “No it is not!”

As election results for The Peace Party (together with a number of other parties contesting European and County Council) went unreported in his local paper, John Morris wrote,

The Peace Party expresses profound concern at the announcement yesterday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute at the launch of its annual Yearbook (www.sipri.org/) that world military expenditures in 2008 reached yet another new high.

For County Council seats, Jim Duggan polled 159 votes in Horsham Riverside, Geoffrey Pay 139 votes in Dartford Rural, Julie Roxburgh 94 votes in Woking South and John Morris 53 votes in Guildford West.

Shafaq Iqbal, one of the ten Peace Party candidates for the European Parliamentary elections in South East England has written, "The Peace Party, in government, will help the civil servants."

The Stop the War Coalition has been asking candidates in the European Parliamentary Elections a series of important questions beginning with, "1. As the war in Iraq has been a disaster for the Iraqi people, will you support an enquiry, open to the public, on the decisions that led to the war?"

Peace Party postal voters in Horsham were shocked to see on their ballot papers that their candidate, Jim Duggan, had apparently changed his political allegiance. The cause of their dismay? The wrong party emblem alongside his name and that of the Party he is standing for in the County Council Division of Horsham Riverside. Jim was more than slightly outraged!

Views of the Peace Party candidates standing in the European Parliamentary Elections in South East England have been sought by the Public and Commercial Services Union on a number of key issues.

Shafaq Iqbal, Peace Party candidate for the European Parliamentary Elections in South East England, has voiced strongly his concerns about the whole of the British parliamentary system and how easily it has become corrupted, how it has seemed to have stood on the sidelines as the economic system has stalled and how it has failed to curb the excesses of the greedy at the expense of the poor and defenceless in society.

A well-known Guildford campaigner for peace, animal rights and raw food responded recently when she received the Peace Party leaflet for the European Parliamentary Elections. “It seems very caring,” she wrote. “It (The Peace Party) reveres all life. O.K.”

Two Woking residents have been seeking the views of lead Peace Party candidate for the European Parliamentary Election in the South East England Region.

"Disarm for Peace", the Newsletter of the Quaker Peace and Social Witness Peace and Disarmament Programme, asks candidates for the European Parliamentary Elections in its Spring, 2009 edition, a number of important questions. John Morris, lead candidate for The Peace Party in South East England has responded.

When it comes to putting your cross on the European Parliamentary Election ballot paper in South East England or on the County Council Election ballot paper in Woking South, Guildford West or South West, Dartford Rural or Horsham Riverside, never entertain negative voting - that is voting for a political party you don't like just to keep out a political party you like even less. That way you'll always end up with politicians you don't want.

Action for UN Renewal and World Disarmament Campaign today quizzed John Morris, lead candidate for the Peace Party in the European Parliamentary Elections in the South East England Region.

Recently, the British Prime Minister referred to the “chain of terrorism” which he saw stretching from Afghanistan, and the neighbouring regions of Pakistan, to the streets of the United Kingdom.

John Morris said this evening, "As a community, I fail to see how we can be supportive, loving, caring and fair to humanity when the Chancellor announces today that he is setting aside £38.7 Billion to spend next year on preparing to kill people (and thus on exposing untold thousands or perhaps millions of Britons to become civilian victims of war and terrorism)."

Taking part in a demonstration or a protest may achieve at the very least the raising of the profile of the issue or problem under consideration. This depends to a certain extent on how well and how widely the action is reported.

A well-known broadcaster was given publicity over the Easter weekend, 2009 about his views on world population in general and the population of Britain in particular.

Peace Party activists today voiced their anger at the killing by United States snipers of the three Somali "pirates" who were holding hostage the American captain of the "Maersk Alabama". The seaman was freed - but at what cost?

Members of The Peace Party were saddened to hear of the death of Ron Mallone on 13th March, 2009.

John Morris and other members of the Peace Party were shocked recently to see the new army recruiting advert on their television screens.

Media coverage of the protests at last week’s NATO anniversary summit in Strasbourg showed how a large-scale peaceful demonstration was turned into a battleground due to a massive police presence and the actions of a minority of violent protesters.

Arif Viqar, an Indian-born radical poet, now living in Lahore in Pakistan, philosophises about war.

Detailed policies on a wide range of concerns and issues relevant to the 2009 elections for county councils is to be found in the Peace Party’s Charter (see the Policies page). However, the Party has identified ten draft key points for the elections. Comments on these points are welcome and should be sent to john4peace@msn.com

The “Put People First” organisation, responsible for the March for Jobs, Justice and Climate, have set out their demands clearly enough and the Peace Party wishes them well this Saturday, 28th March, 2009.

“The moral deviancy of our elite no longer shocks. What is dispiriting is its tacit endorsement by electoral majorities” (Pankaj Mishra in the Guardian Weekly, 20th February, 2009) Could it be possible that the moral deviancy referred to is a reflection of morality generally in European – and American – society?

Members of the Peace Party Executive are invited to comment on the draft leaflet for the European Parliamentary Election which takes place across the EU at the beginning of June, 2009. Click "more" to see the draft.

News reporting throws up many problems; the ways in which occurrences and activities, ideas and actions are covered by the news media can be most suspect. Concentrating, as news does, on the worst aspects of human life is only the tip of the iceberg , , , ,

'There is no way to peace; peace is the way'. (Gandhi)

Mark Kurlansky is an American writer. His latest book is 'Non-Violence: The History Of A Dangerous Idea.

The 20th Century, in Western Europe in particular, was a time of unprecedented slaughter: it was a veritable tragedy for the human species. We were surely not put on this earth as beings with high order mental faculties and reasoning skills in order to kill one another (in huge numbers).

A Peace Party spokesperson responded to the Railfuture campaigning organisation's request for views on their eight topics of concern as follows:

At its recent meeting the Peace Party selected fifteen key points from its Charter on which to contest the June 2009 elections.

The Peace Party believes in a united Europe. It is possible that the peaceful conditions which Europe, excluding parts of the Balkans, have experienced for many decades now, are due in part at least to the European Union.

The Peace Party stands for the non-violent resolution of conflict at all levels, including industrial disputes. The structure of the work-place environment places intolerable burdens on employees which can surface as inhumane behaviour.

The desire to take sides in the conflict in Gaza tends to broaden the conflict rather than resolving it. Of course, we are horrified by the appalling suffering inflicted by Israeli forces on the people of Gaza and we desperately want to stop it. But Israel, like Hamas, believes its behaviour is morally justified, and condemnation gets us nowhere.

Please write or join in the demos and vigils - this is a massacre of people I have met whose everyday humiliation at the checkpoints I have witnessed.

This is a subject about which I, in common with millions of others, I suspect, know precious little. The people who command and control our finances and economic transactions are only too willing to keep it that way. In all my years as a school teacher I don’t think I ever came across a course in schools taken by all the students explaining clearly and carefully to them exactly how the financial and economic systems work. If there had been such a compulsory course I imagine many students might have walked out of class or at least played hookey in their complete disbelief and astonishment at the tricks, cons, unfairness and immorality of it all.

My proposal is that the BBC dedicates a whole evening to bringing together and to the wider public's notice, all those organizations devoted to renouncing the violent route to peaceful co-existence.

Once again humanity in another part of our precious world is being forced to endure all the trauma of War.

The Peace Party expresses its sympathy with all those who have been bereaved, injured and traumatised by senseless killing and violence.

All phenomena in the world are linked, some more obviously than others. In this article I wish to demonstrate the parallels and linkages between organic growing and a pacifistic approach to the governance of natural and human altered systems.

The latest proposals from the government regarding the compulsory militarisation of schools are another step down the wrong track completely.The public's perception of the armed forces is that they are engaged in illegal, immoral and unnecessary wars, due to the gross incompetence and totally flawed policies of the government. Horrified at the alarming rise in gun crime at one point, they can at the same time suggest more weapons training for children in schools. They really don't make the connections, do they?

This week’s huge electricity and gas price rises are testament to the fact that placing basic services in the hands of business and the markets produces a poor deal for the consumer. Nuclear power is no exception...

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the subsequent killings of over a hundred people in Pakistan at the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 represent a further dreadful and regrettable loss of so many valued lives, at a time when there are so many inhumanities in the world crying out to be put right.

I was listening to the Analysis programme on R4 just now. The presenter, someone called Philip Stephens, contrasted Simon Jenkins' "gritty realism" with Jonathan Powell's "muscular idealism".

Can I draw your attention to

http://www.zwnews.com/mediacentre.cfm

At a recent Peace Party meeting we discussed the Party's position on taxation. I happened to mention an idea for financing public expenditure without taxation, or at least without taxation as we know it. The only flaw I can see in the idea is that public scepticism would make its implementation political suicide. Still, I'm pretty sure Keith asked me to put an explanation on the blog, so here it is.

"If we can manage with a prison population of 40,000 in 1991 why do we need to lock up 80,000 now during a period when crime has been falling?" asks Martin Narey, former head of the prison service in an article in the Guardian. Why indeed?

Do have a look at the slide show at

http://www.lucasgray.com/video/peacetrain.html.

Isn't this a truer picture of the country than the one we are constantly presented through the news?