A powerful call for peace: Sir Mark Rylance's public letter

Academy Award - winning actor and long-standing Conscience supporter Sir Mark Rylance has written the public letter below, setting out his deep concerns about UK taxes being used to fund military spending at a time of escalating global conflict. He has also shared this letter with several national newspapers.

Sir Mark delivered the letter at the recent National Alternative Remembrance Ceremony in London, where he reflected on the rights of conscientious objection and the urgent need to redirect public money towards peacebuilding. A video of his reading can be found at the bottom of this page:

"WHEN people recognise me in the street I try to guess who it is they are recognising.

Often, they don’t know my actual name, just the name of a not-so-big friendly giant, a

Savile Row cutter, an avatar from Ready Player One or the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.

And they know much more about the characters I play than about me, as actors are

generously granted the personalities of people we only pretend to be.

Of all the characters I have played I wish I had Thomas Cromwell’s mind, at least as

Hilary Mantel perceived it in Wolf Hall. Particularly when I feel overwhelmed, as I

often do these days, by the world’s troubles. Cromwell was so good when times

were bad.

What would Lord Cromwell advise, I ask myself, in our present situation as a nation.

And who would he advise? Our King Charles no longer governs in the way of

Cromwell’s boss, Henry VIII. Though it may not feel like it, we the people now govern

ourselves through elected representatives. So what would Cromwell, the first

common man to counsel kings, say to us the common people now?

I think he would carefully consider who we are and what, if anything, we have in

common with each other. What fundamental beliefs do we share?

For me, the first cornerstone that comes to mind, with which Cromwell would surely

agree, is that children should not be harmed by adults. It’s not right. Anywhere. In

our families, our schools, our places of faith, our workplaces, in the street, even in

prison. A prisoner who has harmed children often requires isolation to avoid

retribution from other inmates.

The English people do not approve of the harming of children by adults. So here is

my question: Why do we approve of it in our international relationships? Not only

approve, we encourage it, if the cause is considered “just”.

I feel certain you are as challenged as I am by the daily news of children suffering

and dying because of adult conflicts. Am I fair to imagine Cromwell asking us: “No

child is responsible for conflict between adults, are they?”

If there was an armed conflict in your neighbour’s house and children were involved,

would our police force charge in without regard for the lives of the children? No. The

children would be their primary concern, as we would all expect.

My Lord Cromwell, you regularly advised King Henry VIII to avoid war, but what can

we do about it?

Statistics recently released show that 2025 is already the most violent year globally

since the end of the Second World War. And such violence is up 65 per cent on last

year.

Like it or not, and I don’t, we are all involved. Seven per cent of the tax we pay each

year goes towards military spending. We arm other nations as well as ourselves, we

train soldiers, we make fighter jets, artillery shells and mortar bombs.

And to make matters worse, the targets and victims of this military onslaught have

changed. In the early 20th century, roughly 90 per cent of casualties in war were

professional soldiers. Now 90 per cent are civilian. Including children.

So, my shrewd and sage Thomas, how can we express our outrage?

He would tell us that in 1916 the English people were the first on the planet to be

granted by their government the right of conscientious objection to the killing of

people in war. Do we not still have that right? And should it not apply to the seven

per cent tax we pay to aid and abet the murder of innocent children? Should we not

withhold that tax if our government refuses to extend our collective abhorrence of

harming children? Could it not be redirected towards the care and support of our

veterans? I don’t believe one of them joined our armed forces to advance the

slaughter of children. Quite the contrary, they risked their lives to prevent it. Some of

their trauma, much more intense than our civilian trauma watching the news, is

caused by this.

I truly believe Thomas Cromwell’s advice to me would be: “Demand your citizen’s

right to conscientious objection and give your defence tax to the veterans.”

As I watch so many British citizens of conscience being arrested for protesting, I

wonder if Thomas would thus be charged with incitement to break the law? And I

wonder also how many of us it would take for the Government to grant us our right of

conscientious objection to the murder of children, anywhere in the world.

Remember this quotation: “The people can always be brought to the bidding of the

leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and

denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It

works the same way in any country.”

Who said it? Hermann Goering.

If you wish to discover more, go to Conscience: Taxes for Peace not War at

www.conscienceonline.org.uk

PS. It is curious to read in the papers that I am “woke” or “virtue signalling” by

wearing a white poppy and thinking as I do. What state of consciousness is required

to accept and participate in the murder of children to resolve adult conflict? What

does that action signal?"