MPs advised on ‘positive’ military values
Britain Yearly Meeting issues a statement on the advice issued to MPs by the government
The government is advising MPs to say they associate the military with ‘positive values’ such as ‘loyalty, resilience, courage and teamwork’, according to Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM), which says the advice came on a ‘leaked memo’.
A statement by BYM, which has had representatives at the recent political party conferences, says the advice shows ‘the government is aware of public unease about the militarisation of youth’.
According to BYM, proposals by defence secretary Gavin Williamson to expand school cadet units and fund 2,000 new ‘cyber cadets’ a year has prompted Conservative headquarters to advise MPs at the Tory party conference, held from 30 September to 3 October, ‘to prepare for awkward questions about militarism in classrooms’.
The statement says: ‘While the public is increasingly concerned about intrusion into children’s lives, the government has chosen not to enable meaningful debate about the consequences of uncritical bias.’
Ellis Brooks, who works on Peace Education for Britain Yearly Meeting, said: ‘For war to proceed, the government needs ongoing public support. One way to get that support is to expose children to militarism without any exploration of the morality or danger of war.’
