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Go to PeacePays.org

www.alexhughescartoon.co.uk
Global Military Spending
this year alone is:
0
www.milspend.org
Kitchen-Blair
Click here for an A4 pdf (1,500k) version to print.
Click here for a version (62k) to use as a screensaver or a desktop image.
demanding the right
Kitchen-Blair

conscience THE PEACE TAX CAMPAIGN campaigns for the legal right for those with a conscientious objection to war to have the military part of their taxes spent on peacebuilding initiatives.

latest news & views

new monthly email bulletin launched

conscience's new monthly e-mail bulletin is a great way to keep up to date with conscience's campaigns. The bulletin will be brief, informative and give you the chance to join in as much or as little as you wish. Just type your email address in the box on the left and click 'subscribe'.

And don't forget that you can hear a lot more about
conscience's work by becoming a member. Members receive several newsletters each year, copies of new materials and the chance to have a say in the future of the campaign.

latest conscience newsletter available

conscience's latest newsletter is available to download or view online. This new-format issue is bursting with good news about recent progress in the campaign.
Download newsletter no.133

Peace still Pays!

This project by conscience demonstrates the effectiveness
and cost-effectiveness of non-violent peacebuilding initiatives.

Security that conscientious objectors, and everyone else,
can pay tax for with a clear conscience.

PeacePays.org is another conscience website - if you haven't yet seen it then take a look now! You can play the military spending quiz, find out about peacemaking efforts around the world and get involved in campaigning. Remember to have a look at the PeacePays 'taxing' animation too.

"legally and logically unsound" - the Judges' view

The Appeal Court has refused the Peace Tax Seven permission for further a
ppeals to the House of Lords. On 4 May 2006, the court dismissed the application and referred the matter to Strasbourg. The refusal is based on decisions made in Strasbourg around 20 years ago which set a 'coherent and consistent' line of argument, according to the Judges. But in the same breath they state that 'in some respects the reasoning may be legally and logically unsound'.

It would appear that so long as one is 'coherent and consistent' it matters little that the arguments against recognition of conscientious objection to military taxation are 'legally and logically unsound'.

The Peace Tax Seven have now exhausted all possibilities in British courts and the door is now open to bringing a case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

For more details see www.peacetaxseven.com

new MP support

We are delighted to Welcome Linda Riordan MP as a supporter of
conscience. Linda was elected this year as MP for Halifax and is keen to help us campaign against financial military conscription.

Click here to see which other MPs support conscience. We are always looking for more MPs to pledge their support for
conscience. If your MP does not yet support us you can help by contacting him/her. Find out what to say and use the online fax your MP facility on the lobbying page.


Make POVERTY History

Thank you to all those people who came to visit the
conscience stall in The Meadows
in Edinburgh on 2 July 2005 for the Make Poverty History rally. The rally was one of the biggest the UK has ever seen. Now the onus is on the G8 leaders to make firm commitments to reducing global poverty. Extreme poverty and war go hand in hand. If you object to paying for war and creating poverty then let your MP know.

"In 2003, the UK was the third largest military spender in the world; in 2004, it had risen to second place, giving the lie to many media reports of 'defence cuts'. Last year over £27 billion ($47 billion) of taxpayers’ money was poured into the military and a further £900 million subsidising the UK arms industry. This is roughly equivalent to the additional amount of aid spending worldwide that the World Bank estimates is required to achieve the Millennium Development Goals ($40-70 billion per annum to 2015)."

Download the letter to send to your MP.
Not sure who your MP is? Find out here.

Joining conscience doesn't have to be taxing!

It's now even easier to join conscience. You can donate or join online using your credit/debit card or with your PayPal account. Visit our join us page for an easy way to support or join conscience.

Put on a display!

Get involved by using our new display materials and help raise awareness of the taxes spent on the military. Use the display at events or conferences you attend so others can learn about the issue. The display consists of three sections - peace tax, human rights and non-military security - consisting of five pages each.
Simply download and print the sections from the get involved page.

Shadow Chancellor, Oliver Letwin, supports conscience

We are pleased to confirm that Oliver Letwin, the Shadow Chancellor supports the rights of those with a conscientious objection to war not to contribute to the military with their taxes. He has supported us for several years and is the only Conservative MP to do so. conscience is supported by a large number of MPs from Labour, Lib Dem and Plaid Cymru. See who supports us for more details.
31/1/05

Ministry of Defence waste taxpayers’ money...

An internal MoD report says the ministry is wasting taxpayers’ money - and lots of it. We at conscience are not at all surprised by this news. We are well aware this government, like those before it, wastes vast sums on military hardware and yet we feel more unsafe than ever. This is one of the reasons why we continue to have wars on a regular basis. What is surprising, though, is that over half of the 1,600 MoD and Armed Forces personnel questioned in the study agreed the MoD was wasting taxpayers’ money! (36.6% agreed, 15% strongly agreed)
The Times (12/10/04)

... and gives it to arms dealers

A recent report by three leading NGOs concluded that up to £936 million goes in subsidies to arms companies in the UK. This support is bad for jobs - it diverts investment away from more effective job-creating schemes - and is really bad for those that get killed by the weapons. This is taxpayers’ money going straight into the pockets of arms dealers.
Download 'Escaping the Subsidy Trap' by BASIC, Saferworld and Oxford Research Group (225k)

disclaimer: the contents of this website are not necessarily endorsed by conscience or constitute conscience policy