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We shouldn't celebrate the British military
An armed forces day message to unarmed civil rights protesters
Today the city I call home didn’t feel like home for me. The city centre of Glasgow, like towns and cities all over Scotland, played host to a massive display of weaponry, Union Jacks, and mass recruitment to the British military.
Today is armed forces day, the second time that an annual “celebration” has been held, allegedly to “Show Your Support for the men and women who make up the Armed Forces community.”
I want to make clear from the outset that I have no problem with charities collecting money to support soldiers and veterans. God knows, the way that people who leave the military are treated by the state, they need it. 20,000 veterans, traumatised and psychologically damaged from their experiences, are in prison, probation or parole. As many as a quarter of those sleeping rough in the UK may have been in the forces, and there are hundreds of veterans on the streets or in hostels. Then there’s the harder to measure damage the wars the British government has engaged in has caused to British troops: the mental health problems, the alcoholism, the divorces, the suicides.
But you wouldn’t have heard much about that today. In Glasgow, although the charities that pick up the pieces of these broken lives were round the fringes of George Square, the heart of the city centre was instead given over to a massive celebration of British imperialism, war and military recruitment.
There were scores of kids encouraged to play in armoured cars, behind faux machine gun emplacements or on an artillery piece, that was aimed at the city chambers. There was face painting and an inflatable assault course. And there were the sickening t shirts, with messages like “Paras Regiment: If you can hear them coming you’re already dead.” A sensitive message to display shortly after the report of the Bloody Sunday inquiry.
Armed forces day had its origins as a project of Gordon Brown’s when he was still the Chancellor back in 2006, and was originally called ‘Veterans Day’ before being rebranded last year. It was the watered down version of what he really wanted, which was a ‘Britain Day,’ a day of celebratory British nationalism that took place under the Union Jack. He said of the flag:
“All the United Kingdom should honour it, not ignore it. We should assert that the Union flag by definition is a flag for tolerance and inclusion.”
Get them young. . .
The problem with the historical narrative that Brown was promoting is that the Union flag isn’t a flag that represents tolerance or fair play. It’s rightly been called the Butcher’s Apron, because it was the flag of colonial oppressors in every region of the world, and today it is the flag that foreign armies of occupation fly as they subdue the peoples of Afghanistan (before that Iraq.) It’s the flag that represents the murderers of Bloody Sunday and the continued occupation of Ireland. It’s not my flag, and I refuse to celebrate it.
Knowing that his beloved day of British Imperial Patriotism would perhaps prove too controversial, Brown sneaked it through under the cover of a day to celebrate veterans. Because veterans are politically sacrosanct. No mainstream political figure would want to be seen as disrespecting British troops, and it opposing Britain day when it’s portrayed as a day for veterans would be much harder.
But socialists have a duty to be tell the truth, however unpopular it may be with some. The truth about the British army is that it has defended the interests of the British ruling class, one of the most ruthless and powerful groups of exploiters the world has ever known, all over the surface of our planet. The great Scots poet and socialist Hamish Henderson once said the British army had been only been progressive at two times in its history, 1640 (at the time of the English revolution) and 1940 (when it fought against German fascism), and both times it changed back to a force of reaction very soon after.
Over recent years SSY has campaigned actively outside army recruitment shops, and in schools, colleges and universities, against military recruitment. We have taken our message directly to the youth of Scotland that the military is not a career you should choose. It’s a job where you can be paid less than the minimum wage for risking your life; where the work you do can scar you mentally and physically for the rest of your life; and where ultimately you will be told to put your life on the line in conflicts that have absolutely nothing to do with defending your family and friends, and everything to protecting the interests of the economic elite that govern the British isles.
Scotland's youth: marching towards the next British war?
Today, I am ashamed to say that, as far as I’m aware, there was no organised challenge to the biggest army recruitment fair we’re likely to see all year. As an activist, I must take my share of the blame for that. I don’t know how many people signed up in Glasgow today, but you can bet that the government gained a lot more willing cannon fodder to send to the killing fields of Afghanistan. At one point in the square, I passed two women, and overheard a comment that chilled me: “He’s away to see how old you need to be to sign up.”
Another bizarre and incongruous feature of the day was the presence of SNP government ministers on the platforms. How a party that claims to be for Scottish independence can feel comfortable presiding over a gigantic celebration of British nationalism is beyond me, but there they were. Nicola Sturgeon was at the parade in Glasgow, and First Minister Alex Salmond at the one in Aberdeen. Presumably, along with keeping the monarchy as the overlord of an “independent” Scotland, the SNP would be happy to see Scottish troops continue to play their historic role as the frontline grunts of the Queen’s army as well.
Last year, a small group of Irish republicans attempted to challenge armed forces day in Glasgow. However, they quickly came under attack from a massive group of loyalists chanting “No Surrender” who’d been there for the parade. If there was anything similar today I wasn’t aware of it.
Next year we must do better. It’s been announced that Edinburgh is to play host to the main parade for the whole of the UK. This will once again be an excuse for a recruiting bonanza for the British military. We can’t allow this to go unchallenged, for the world to think this is completely a good thing and that no one has a problem with it. 
But for any kind of counter protest to be effective, and safe for those taking part (not to mention preventing everyone involved from being arrested en masse) it will require mass numbers. We need to start getting organised now. I intend to raise the issue at SSY conference next week, and through the SSP as well. Let’s try and bring together a broad umbrella of everyone who isn’t happy at Scotland’s capital being used as a recruiting ground and a celebration of the British military. Calling all pacifists, anti militarists, anti war campaigners, Irish republicans, Scottish republicans, solidarity campaigners with nations devastated by British imperialism, anarchists, socialists and general dissenters: let’s not let them get away with this.
Scottish, not British!
(Since 1945, the British military has been at war in India, Palestine, Malaya, Korea, Suez, Kenya, Cyprus, Borneo, Vietnam, Yemen, Oman, Northern Ireland, the Falklands, the Persian Gulf, Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan. Almost all these wars were about preventing peoples from ruling themselves when it conflicted with British Imperial interests.)
Please note, while I was finishing this, Saturday stopped being “today”, so sorry if the way it’s written causes any confusion!
Last year the Stop the War Coalition were invited to attend RSF Scotlands protest, but they didnt respond/reply other than to heap scorn on the RSF comrades and repeat the shite about them being sectarian hooligans and lumpen Celtic fans. I debated with a couple of Glasgow SWP members on the net and it was clear that cowardice lay at the heart of their abusive response.
Well argued Jack and my total respect to SSY for raising this issue and for the calls to mobilise next year in Edinburgh. Iam a member of 32CSM Scotland and the SRSM – we will pull out all the stops to build opposition next year and will appeal to other Republican organisations in Scotland to get numbers out. We look forward to standing shoulder with SSY/SSP and other genuine anti imperialists and those who struggle for the Scottish Republic free from British militarism/imperialism.
Jack, I totally agree with this article. But I don’t think just saying “Last year, a small group of Irish republicans attempted to challenge armed forces day in Glasgow. However, they quickly came under attack from a massive group of loyalists chanting “No Surrender” who’d been there for the parade. ” conveys just how dangerous it is to protest against British imperialism, especially in Glasgow. If you look at that video the republicans are clearly getting booted in to, not just shouted at, and the tone of the article says it all. They’re the “sectarian bigots”, not the cunts shouting loyalist chants and kicking fuck out of protestors.
I wish we could protest this awful awful event, but unless we have GUARANTEES from a FUCKLOAD of organisations that they are going to promote and assemble for a demo then it is FAR, FAR too dangerous to go near. I wouldn’t advocate putting SSY members at risk unless we knew for certain that it was going to come together.
I couldn’t agree more with this post. It’s despicable to portray the army as a “good career prospect” for young people. I don’t know about anyone else, but when I thought through my career options, I decided I’d quite like a job where I wasn’t at high risk of dying every day, and where my main objective and puprpose wasn’t to kill poor brown people. Unfortunately, some people don’t have the choices I’m lucky enough to have – for some people it’s either signing up or signing on.
Shit like this is not a fun family event, it’s disgusting, misleading propaganda. My mother wanted to take my 4yr old nephew to the parade in the ‘Deen because she thought he’d like it. I told her not to, there’s no way he’s going to grow up thinking it’d be great to be in uniform.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzF39EiBY2Q
Sarah, I apreciate what you’re saying. That’s why I think if we do want something to happen then we need to start organising now, and drawing together as broad a coalition of groups who would be opposed to the day as possible. I was in town the other day, and I saw people who I knew would be very dangerous if we were there with small numbers. But I also felt sickened that the day was being allowed to pass without opposition, and felt like something had to be done. Nearer the time if we’re not sure then of course we have to make judgements for our own safety, but I don’t think we can allow ourselves to be intimidated by the threat of violence out of trying to do anything, I think we should at least try to organise something and see how we get on. Otherwise we’d never have been able to mobilise against the SDL or anyone else that threatens to use violence. The only solution is mass action, and (at least) hundreds of activists on the street.
That said, I think with it being the UK parade in Edinburgh next year it will be a different dynamic to what’s gone on in Glasgow. The Glasgow parade the other day was very much about British stuff, and was clearly pitched at a core loyalist audience. I don’t know if the Edinburgh event will be on TV or what, but regardless it’s going to be much more of an establishment, “official” event, probably high participation from the UK and Scottish governments. I think this has implications for what the event will be like. I really think it will less be a celebration of Scottish/Northern Irish loyalism, and more of an official UK, family based event. I’m not saying those kind of people won’t be there, but I don’t think they’ll be the majority of the audience. The fact that it’s in Edinburgh will also diminish the participation of the Glasgow loyalist community.
I’m not saying this to try and underestimate the potential dangers involved, but I do think it’s going to be slightly different than if we were holding a counter protest at the event that took place over the weekend.
I also think it’s important that there’s a broad scope of people who are opposed to armed forces day. It’s disgusting that republicans are labelled as “sectarian bigots”, but for the kind of protest I envisage, republicans should be one element of those showing opposition. I’d also like to see anti war campaigners, representatives of the Afghan community, solidarity campaigners with the women who have suffered as a result of British bases in Kenya, etc. so that it can’t be characterised as about “sectarianism”, but instead it can be made clear we’re a coalition of people who are opposed to British militarism and imperialism.
I propose that in the next couple of weeks we assemble a list of all possible groups that would be interested and ask them to participate in an initial organising meeting about what we can do.
I also think it’s important that we lead up to this over the next year by stepping up our general day to day anti military recruitment campaigning, and try and build a bit of a head of steam round that. We could even consider trying to see if we could help initiate a new organisation, along the lines of the Scottish Anti Fascist Alliance, to bring together a group of people wider than SSP or SSY who want to take direct action to prevent the military from being able to lie to young people and recruit them to British imperial wars.
Sarah is correct that this requires a good turnout- hundreds at least and their will be a very high risk of loyalist attack and arrest by Edinburgh police. There may be scope for more creative ways to protest if the numbers arent out in sufficient numbers. The key problem is most militant republicans arent in Edinburgh and it may be difficult to get them through from West/Central Scotland. Still we have a year to get it organised.
Since when was the Falklands war about stopping people ruling themselves? It was about upholding democracy which the islanders used to reject becoming argentinian, the same with the Gulf war, that was about returning kuwait to a free country after Sadaam Hussein a DICTATOR invaded Kuwait and opressed its people. Furthermore, Irish republican protestors in Scotland, wouldn’t you be of more use in Ireland?
Well, first of all I said “almost all of these wars.” But on your specific examples:
The Falklands war wasn’t about protecting the rights of the tiny amount of people there that want to be part of Britain for some bizarre reason. The British government supported the Argentinean junta heavily with money and weapons before they invaded the Falklands, and only opposed them seizing the islands because it was a humiliation for British imperialism. Before this they were prepared to hand the islands over. However, the most important things about the Falklands war was that it was used as a gigantic distraction by Thatcher, who before the war was hugely unpopular and after won the next election on the basis of British nationalism and chauvinism; and the fact that there may well be loads of oil under the sea round about them.
The Gulf War was about protecting western control of Middle East oil reserves, nothing more. Again, Saddam Hussein was a dictator who our government had supported with arms and money, until he challenged Britain’s imperial interests. Kuwait today is hardly very democratic. In fact it’s ruled by an EMIR.
Dunno if you’ve noticed, but there’s a few people of Irish descent who live in Scotland, and some of them support republicanism!
You lot make me laugh – slagging off the armed forces who protect the freedom that allows sad bunches of losers like yourselves to even exist. The majority of the Paras are scots, as are the special forces and there is a good reason for that – we scots make the best soldiers in the world. So when a young lad with no prospects joins up he is given loads of opportunity to exel at something. Not much chance of that back home – despite decades of voting for socialist chisellers like you. You see scotland has had loads of opportunities to forge its own path and has turned away from every one because the population as a whole realised long ago that we get a better standard of living as part of the UK than we ever would as an independent nation. If you are ever to get anywhere then you need to make a reasoned economic argument, which by the way has nothing to do with the armed forces.
Also by linking yourselves to whacko groups like the Irish Republicans, you lose what little respect you might have gained as they are just a bunch of murdering cowards who by the way also failed in their objective to unite Ireland. Even the bit they did get they subjected to decades of civil war and murder. You would have to be off your box to support any group of loonies like that, or the protestant equivelents on the other side. I suspect that you just like protesting about anything – nice that you have that option – if you had tried that in Sadaam’s Iraq, the Taliban’s Afghanistan, or the Falkland Islands under Argentine rule, then you would have been arrested, tortured then executed, without trial or appeal, and quite possibly alongside your family members too. Think about that when you get the inevitable swipe from a truncheon in Edinburgh.
“So when a young lad with no prospects joins up he is given loads of opportunity to exel at something.”
Aye, dying for his corrupt government, keeping them in duck houses and caviar while he’s fucking blown to bits having killed 50 innocent people in a country he knows nothing about. Well done for celebrating that.
“Think about that when you get the inevitable swipe from a truncheon in Edinburgh.”
You are odious