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.
's new monthly e-mail bulletin is a great way to keep up to date with '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 '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.
'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
 This project by 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.
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PeacePays.org is another 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.
The Appeal Court has refused the Peace Tax Seven permission for further appeals 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
We are delighted to Welcome Linda Riordan MP as a supporter of . 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 . 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.
Thank you to all those people who came to visit the 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.
It's now even easier to join . 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 .
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.
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. 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
An internal MoD report says the ministry is wasting taxpayers’ money - and lots of it. We at 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)
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)
