Stop the War Coalition
 Stop the War Coalition       | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Advocacy group |
| Interest of | Lindsey German |
Stop the War Coalition (StWC; informally Stop the War) is a British group established on 21 September 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks, to campaign against unjust wars.
War on Terror
StWC has campaigned against the wars that are part of the so-called War on Terror of the United States and its allies: the war in Afghanistan, the Iraq War, the NATO bombing of Libya and Britain's bombing in Syria. The demonstration against the Iraq War on 15 February 2003, organised with Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), has been claimed to be the largest public demonstration in British history.[1]
Statement on Ukraine
On 15 February 2022, the Russian Duma voted to appeal to President Putin to recognise Ukraine's two breakaway states: Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR).[2]
On 21 February 2022, President Putin signed decrees recognising the independence of #Donetsk People's Republic and #Lugansk People's Republic, as well as treaties on friendship and cooperation between #Russia and DPR and LPR.[3]
On 22 February 2022, StWC issued the following statement on the situation in Ukraine:
Stop the War condemns the movement of Russian forces into eastern Ukraine and urges that they immediately withdraw, alongside the resumption of diplomatic negotiations to resolve the crisis.
This dispute could and should be resolved peacefully, and that remains the only basis for a lasting settlement, rather than the imposition of military solutions. That it has not been resolved is not, however, the responsibility of the Russian or Ukrainian governments alone.
The conflict is the product of thirty years of failed policies, including the expansion of NATO and US hegemony at the expense of other countries as well as major wars of aggression by the USA, Britain and other NATO powers which have undermined international law and the United Nations.
The British government has played a provocative role in the present crisis, talking up war, decrying diplomacy as appeasement and escalating arms supplies and military deployments to Eastern Europe.
If there is to be a return to diplomacy, as there should be, the British government should pledge to oppose any further eastward expansion of NATO and should encourage a return to the Minsk-2 agreement, already signed by both sides, by all parties as a basis for ending the crisis in relations between Ukraine and Russia.
Beyond that, there now needs to be a unified effort to develop pan-European security arrangements which meet the needs of all states, something that should have been done when the Warsaw Pact was wound up at the end of the Cold War. The alternative is endless great power conflict with all the attendant waste of resources and danger of bloodshed and destruction.
We send our solidarity to all those campaigning for an end to the war, often under very difficult conditions, in Russia and Ukraine. Stop the War can best support them by demanding a change in Britain’s own policy, which can be seen to have failed.[4]
Notable members
- Tariq Ali, StWC Vice-President, writer and activist
- Tony Benn, StWC President (2001-2014), former Labour MP and Cabinet Minister
- Andrew Burgin, StWC press officer
- Louise Christian, StWC Vice-President, Campaigning lawyer
- Katy Clark, former Labour Party MP
- Anna Chen, former press officer
- Jeremy Corbyn, former StWC officer and chair (2011–15), Labour Party MP and party leader[5]
- Tam Dalyell, StWC Vice President, former Labour Party MP
- George Galloway, StWC Vice-President, former Labour and Respect Party MP
- Lindsey German, StWC convenor, former Socialist Workers Party (SWP) Central Committee member, Respect candidate in the 2004 London mayoral election
- Kate Hudson, StWC officer, chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), former member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.
- Caroline Lucas, former StWC Vice-President, Green Party MP (resigned as patron, December 2015)[6]
- Alice Mahon, StWC Vice President, former Labour MP
- Kamal Majid, StWC vice president, founder member of the Stalin Society
- Andrew Murray, StWC chair, Chief of Staff of Unite the union, Communist Party of Great Britain member
- Chris Nineham, StWC officer, former SWP Central Committee member
- John Rees, StWC officer, former SWP Central Committee member, Respect National Secretary
- Mark Rylance, Stop the War Patron and actor
- Keith Sonnet, StWC Vice-President, Deputy General Secretary of UNISON
- Walter Wolfgang, StWC member, Vice-chair Labour CND, Vice-president CND and member of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee
- Salma Yaqoob, Birmingham City Councilor, Respect co-founder
Related Documents
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:15 times when Jeremy Corbyn was on the right side of history | Article | 29 July 2015 | Paul Simpson | "The important thing is how we bring about peace, not posturing. You do not bring about peace in any part of the world without talking to people you don't agree with." (#SundayPolitics, 19 July 2015) |
| Document:Being anti-war does not make us apologists for 'the enemy' or anyone else | Article | 28 February 2022 | Lindsey German | I am proud to be an anti-war campaigner and I know there are many like me. I note that anti-war protesters in Russia are being lauded in the British media. I also support them and send them my full solidarity. The irony is that Putin will see them as the enemy within — just as our government (and loyal opposition) treats us. |
| Document:British military presence near Venezuela ‘extremely concerning’ | Article | 5 February 2019 | Phil Miller | “Britain’s recent history of catastrophic military interventions should rule out any UK participation in Donald Trump’s attempts to destabilise a democratically elected government in Venezuela.” |
| Document:Corbyn receives International Peace Prize in Geneva | Article | 9 December 2017 | ||
| Document:Faced with Donbass defeat, US and UK up the ante in Ukraine | Article | 8 June 2022 | Chris Nineham | Ivan Katchanovski, a Ukrainian professor of political studies at the University of Ottawa, argues: “The US and UK governments show no efforts or desire to achieve peaceful settlement of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.” |
| Document:Jeremy Corbyn's Acceptance Speech 2013 Gandhi International Peace Award | Speech | 9 January 2014 | Jeremy Corbyn | Gandhi Award to a Man of Peace: Leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn |
| Document:The 20-year war on Afghanistan was a mistake | Speech | 18 August 2021 | Zarah Sultana | Speaking outside Parliament on 18 August 2021, prior to the Afghanistan emergency debate, Zarah Sultana joined colleagues including Jeremy Corbyn to say: "The war on Afghanistan shows – once and for all – that the West cannot deliver liberal democracy at the barrel of a gun. This war – the first 'War on Terror' – must be Britain's last war of aggression." |
| Document:Truth and Ukraine | blog post | 2 March 2023 | Craig Murray | Commentator: "Russia didn't fail to take Kiev in March. It withdrew from Kiev because Zelensky agreed to peace talks. The US, UK and EU opposed the peace talks and Zelensky withdrew from the talks." |
References
- ↑ "'Million' march against Iraq war"
- ↑ "Russian Parliament Votes To Give Sovereign Recognition To Donbas"
- ↑ "President Putin signed decrees recognising independence of DPR and LPR"
- ↑ "STOP THE WAR STATEMENT ON UKRAINE 22/02/22"
- ↑ "Jeremy Corbyn: Why I'm standing down as Chair of Stop the War Coalition"
- ↑ "Caroline Lucas resigns from Stop the War, after finding herself unable to support group's 'recent positions'"
