ForcesWatch

“Colour your own F-35” worksheets and missile simulators in classrooms?

@thebristolcable.bsky.social's Michal Grant digs into how deeply the arms industry has pushed into Bristol’s secondary schools and how educators and community groups are now pushing back.

https://tinyurl.com/39txpvbz

🕊️Conscientious objection is not just found in history books

Peace Pledge Union is holding a meeting to hear directly from Russian & Ukrainian conscientious objectors, alongside campaigners defending the right to refuse to kill.

9th Dec, 6pm. Online/PPU office, London
tinyurl.com/v7xucvba

🕊️ Heading into a new year — time for a new diary!

@housmansbookshop.bsky.social Peace Diary opens with an article by ForcesWatch’s very own Emma Sangster, offering insight into militarism & resistance.

Become a ForcesWatch supporter & we'll send you a copy 👉 www.forceswatch.net/support-our-...

British military trained in Israel amid Gaza genocide Exclusive: Armed forces personnel have ‘studied on educational staff courses’ since October 2023, Ministry of Defence discloses

Armed forces personnel have ‘studied on educational staff courses’ since October 2023, Ministry of Defence discloses.

This underscores how deeply intertwined UK–Israel military ties have remained, despite the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Read more from John McEvoy for @declassifieduk.org

Two peers suspended from House of Lords for breaking lobbying rules Lord Evans of Watford and Lord Dannatt were filmed breaking rules, in undercover footage recorded by Guardian

Richard Dannatt (former head of the British Army) & David Evans, Lord Evans of Watford — suspended from the House of Lords after being found to have breached lobbying rules.

The case adds urgency to calls for reform of the House of Lords, including stricter regulation of external interests.

Exposed: British Army’s child recruits suffer violent abuse An 11-month investigation reveals culture of violence, criminality and sexual abuse at army training centre for teens

And see the full investigation by @opendemocracy.net + CRIN ➡️

ForcesWatch » Do we want militarised schools? Cadet forces, 'independent' evaluations and defence agendas in education The politics of cadet force expansion and what is wrong with militarising education.

Read our piece “Do we want militarised schools? Cadet forces, ‘independent’ evaluations and defence agendas in education” ➡️

UK’s most dangerous ‘school’: Army must stop hiring children British Army is putting 16- and 17-year-olds at risk of abuse in desperate drive to increase troops. That must change

‘The Army Foundation College is the most dangerous “school” in the country."

Jim Wyke from CRIN explains why the only way to stop the abuse of children in the army is to raise the age of recruitment to 18.

ForcesWatch support Demilitarise Education's open letter, calling on UK Unis to end war complicity & to cut ties with the arms industry.

Universities should be spaces for research, education, & the public good, not complicit in the destruction of war.

🔗https://ded1.co/how-we-do-it/open-letter-2025

Gearing up the ‘whole of society’ to ‘war fighting readiness’ is likely to lead to war somewhere in the world, if not in Europe, to maintain the purpose of a larger ‘defence’ industry and military.   

We need less irresponsible narrative and far more effort towards building peace.

Luke Pollard MP, Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, Speech for Long War Conference Defence Minister, Luke Pollard MP delivers a speech at RUSI on long warfighting readiness.

At this week’s Long War conference, the government minister spoke of winning a long war with Russia.

Do they ever consider what that would look like in reality? 

We need to militarise the UK more, bloodthirsty defence committee says Mainstream media are insisting that a report on UK defence means we're not ready for invasion - but really they're just bloodthirsty

The UK’s Defence Committee report — “The UK contribution to European Security” urges further militarisation of the UK.

@joejglenton.bsky.social warns these ideas rely on overhyped threat narratives, amplified by mainstream media.

@thecanaryuk.bsky.social 

The devastation of service personnel, and communities, in the Ukraine war is the starkest reminder that we must actively build peace, rather than see war as inevitable.

The Germany government has backed away from reintroducing conscription after a fierce national debate, while saying a compulsory call-up will be back on the table if voluntary recruitment cannot meet the numbers.

As France prepares military expansion, how is Europe beefing up its armies? European nations are rushing to bolster their defences amid Russia threat and uncertainty of US support

As Europe ramps up defence spending, we’re seeing a push towards conscription. France’s chief of staff of the armed forces said that the country must be prepared “to lose its children”!!

Exposed: British Army’s child recruits suffer violent abuse An 11-month investigation reveals culture of violence, criminality and sexual abuse at army training centre for teens

Investigation by
@opendemocracy.net and CRIN reveals the scale of bullying, harassment, sexual offences, self-harm and safeguarding failures experienced by teenagers in the British Army — particularly at the Army Foundation College Harrogate.

Read more from Sian Norris ⬇️

ForcesWatch » A back door to Parliament for defence contractors: mapping arms company influence in APPGs Our research on the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Armed Forces found very little transparency and a huge amount of corporate sponsorship, and defence companies continue their involvement in APPGs in the new parliament.

At ForcesWatch, we have long raised concerns about how APPGs operate as potential lobbying vehicles. In our piece, A back door to Parliament for defence contractors, we map out the layers of corporate influence over cross-party groups. 

Israeli weapons firm set to close UK wing Israel’s state-owned arms company, Rafael, is disbanding its UK subsidiary following an investigation by Declassified

.@declassifieduk.org have revealed a serious conflict: the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Defence Technology accepted funding from RUK Advanced Systems, a UK arm of Israeli state-owned arms company, Rafael. Therefore breaching parliamentary rules.

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

We loved this thoughtful speech from actor & peace advocate Sir Mark Rylance at the alternative Remembrance ceremony.

“It feels more necessary than any year before just to see people who agree that war isn’t the way to solve our problems.”

@stwc.bsky.social

Read our piece “Do we want militarised schools? Cadet forces, ‘independent’ evaluations and defence agendas in education” forceswatch.net/.../militarised-schools-cadet-forces-independent-evaluations-and-defence-agendas-in-education/

Exposed: British Army’s child recruits suffer violent abuse An 11-month investigation reveals culture of violence, criminality and sexual abuse at army training centre for teens

For 11 months, CRIN and @opendemocracy.net Democracy have been working to uncover the horrific extent of child abuse in the British Army. This work has been published and is available to read at www.opendemocracy.net/en/british-a...

The British Army is still recruiting 16- and 17-year-olds, exposing them to abuse, harassment, and self-harm.

Today on World Children’s Day, we need to commit to protecting children, not militarising them.

ONE WEEK LEFT TO APPLY!

ForcesWatch is seeking a researcher to join our small, dedicated team campaigning for peace, human rights and challenging militarism.

Apply before 27 Nov!

Full details and how to apply: www.forceswatch.net/vacancy-rese...

#Hiring #JobOpening

Military recruitment is in crisis. Here's how we can make the system fairer This Remembrance Day, we should reflect not just on sacrifices past, but on how Britain fills its military ranks today.

Great to see the @bigissue.com publish this insightful article on who carries the physical and mental risks - and moral burden - of serving in the military.

Join us for our first ever Declassified UK summit!

This special event will bring together journalists, campaigners & supporters to examine the system that drives Britain's war machine.

Date: Saturday, 31 January 2026
Venue: EartH, 11-17 Stoke Newington Rd, London N16 8BH

Tickets in link below.

In COP30’s blue zone, side events will address the climate impacts of militaries, held by organisations like @ceobs.org ,@sipri.org & @arcticbasecamp.org.

Ellie Kinney asks what, if anything, COP30 will deliver on conflict, climate and militarism👉https://tinyurl.com/mr38c9tt

COP30: What to expect on conflict, climate and militarism - CEOBS COP30 is taking place against a backdrop of wars and rising military spending, what will it deliver on conflict, climate and militarism?

COP30 is taking place against a backdrop of armed conflicts & rising military spending.

With wars affecting every corner of the globe and spending at a record high of $2.7 trillion, 2024 also saw humanity breach the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target. 

Armed Forces Sexualised Behaviours and Sexual Harassment Survey

Survey results can be found here ⬇️

UK military vows reform after survey reveals high rates of sexual harassment Two-thirds of women in the British army reported experiencing sexualised behaviour in the past year, according to a survey released on Thursday, findings that the government said were "wholly unacceptable"

Despite everything we already know about sexual harassment and abuse in the armed forces, the results of this survey are shocking. It reveals how widespread the range of verbal, non-verbal, cyber and physical behaviours are. 

Read more at @reuters.com  ⬇️

🪖The government is investing an additional £70M to grow cadet forces by 30% by 2030.

When military programmes target young people, we have to ask: are we supporting youth development or shaping the next generation for war?

Read our full investigation: tinyurl.com/mrv2ajpf