Dear Friends,
Yesterday the Taxes for Peace Bill was read in Parliament. 100 years after the British citizens were given the first right to object, COs once again made their voices heard.
We are delighted to announce that the Bill has passed it’s first reading, and has been scheduled for further debate on December 2nd 2016.
Ruth Cadbury gave a passionate and personal speech laying out the case for the Bill, arguing:
“Genuine, long-term security is achieved not with ever more sophisticated weapons and increased spending on “defence”, but by co-operation, negotiation, and shared understanding of the problems that face humanity—poverty, ill health, and environmental degradation.”
You can watch the full speech on the BBC Iplayer here.
A written transcript of Ruth’s speech can be found here.
Conscience will now be looking at what we can do to increase our parliamentary support, develop awareness about non-military security and how new Scottish tax powers could affect how we might campaign.
Thank you all for helping in getting this issue raised in Parliament. This success was only possible because of the generous support of our members.
Thank you.
Warm regards,
