Latest News
Talking Trident
Trident was top of the agenda at a recent workshop organised by the Northern Friends Peace Board (NFPB) at Swarthmoor Hall, Cumbria. Eighteen people attended the event, which was facilitated by Tim Wallis, Quaker Peace & Social Witness peace and disarmament programme manager. The topic was ‘Having More Productive Trident...
Global executions increasing
More people were given the death penalty in 2015 than at any point in the last quarter century, according to a new report from Amnesty International on capital punishment.
Arms fair protest trial concludes
A London judge has dismissed charges against peace activists who blocked the road outside September’s Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair. The eight activists argued that they acted to stop greater crimes being committed using weapons bought in the UK.
No ‘just war’ conclude Catholics
Participants at a ‘Nonviolence and Just Peace’ gathering held in Rome on 11-13 April have issued a statement declaring that they are ‘called to take a clear stand for creative and active nonviolence and against all forms of violence’.
Military spending questioned
The Global Day of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) took place on 18 April. According to the Global Campaign on Military Spending UK, the United Kingdom is the sixth highest military spender in the world, with an annual budget of £45 billion. Global military spending in 2015 was €1,500 billion (£1,190 billion). This year, once...
Militarism takes centre stage in Yorkshire
‘The New Militarism’, a Quakers in Yorkshire event, took place at Huddersfield Meeting House on Saturday 16 April. The programme included a performance of Over the Top by Journeymen Theatre. The play was commissioned in response to the increasing influence of military values in everyday life.
Irish Friends announce divestment
Ireland Yearly Meeting (IYM) has committed to developing an investment strategy by January 2017 to ethically invest all of its funds in sustainable and peaceful companies, and to divest from destructive industries, including fossil fuels. The commitment was made earlier this month at Yearly Meeting in Dublin.
JRF announces new partnership
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has announced a new partnership with the University of Manchester. A new unit established by the two organisations will ‘promote inclusive growth in Greater Manchester’. The Inclusive Growth Analysis Unit (IGAU) aims to ensure that economic growth brings real benefits to disadvantaged people and places...
Young Friends gather
Some 300 young Friends aged between fifteen and eighteen gathered at the Frontier Centre in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire last week for Junior Yearly Meeting (JYM). The theme was ‘Inner Light: opening and inspiring us?’
Leaveners collaboration highlights workers
Leaveners, the Quaker arts group, has worked with Dudley Museum & Art Gallery to bring together works of art that give historical insight into the lives of Black Country industrial workers.