Who’s the new guy in the leafy attire handing out fitness advice and wads of cash?

After moving the motion objecting to army recruitment at congress, confirming our solidarity with NUT and overwhelmingly supported by you all, our local campaign began in earnest this week. The Army have set up a stall in the drama hall during enrolment offering a £5000 bursaries to students to commit themselves to 4 years in the army after leaving college. With no other employers have been granted this privileged access,and no other organisation has been offered the opportunity to counter the one-sided propaganda; we were understandably concerned. Their material as one member put.. “ its like a promotional material for a sports centre for bird spotters”. Why has the army has been permitted access during enrolment week when students are making important choices about their future. Pressure, bribes or inducements from outside institutions are inappropriate in this context.

In response to UCU’s distribution, and in solidarity with our UNISON branch, we leafleted outlining our opposition to the army’s recruitment activity in the college during enrolment. As a direct consequence our college principal publicly lambasted our new branch secretary through a microphone in front of the assembled college, at a meeting called at the start of the year. The army had been distributing their literature unchallenged to all curriculum desks throughout enrolment. Our concern is for the welfare of our students, particularly the 16-18 year-olds, and a profound distaste that they are being recruited with inducements and under false pretences to an institution which is failing in its duty of care.

A recent independent report by the Rowntree trust has condemned the army for using false and misleading propaganda to recruit young people. A full-page article in yesterday’s Observer newspaper (‘Record numbers of ex-soldiers in jail as combat leaves mental scars’) supplies further evidence that the MOD are failing in their duty of care to soldiers, Soldiers comprise the largest occupational group in the prison system with the number doubling in the last 4 years to 8500. The Howard League for Penal Reform attributes this to ‘‘an inability to cope with civilian life, particularly for those who joined the services on leaving school’

Veterans in Prison argue that ‘‘they’re fighting in back-to-back conflicts, coming out and going back again; they haven’t got time to recover. There are not enough of them. They don’t have the right cover or equipment and they’re absolutely knackered’ ‘staff at [one prison] have become so concerned at the lack of support traumatised soldiers receive upon release that they have taken to issuing them with information packs giving details of mental health charities’

National and local public opinion is overwhelmingly opposed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and our local community amongst others is struggling to deal with gun crime and violence, especially where it affects young people. As a community college we should oppose violence and should not be feeding our young people to the war machine. The UK has been criticised at the UN (Child Soldiers Global Report 2008) as the only country in Europe that recruits 16 year-olds into the armed forces. The army targets youth because they are more vulnerable to army propaganda, especially in areas of high poverty and unemployment where young people have fewer choices than in leafy suburbs. The Army is enticing young people with glossy propaganda that conceals the facts that:

- The Army is a racist, sexist and homophobic institution

- 20% of 16-23 year-old women recruits suffer sexual harassment (2006 Equal Opportunities commission survey), with 10% of new recruits report being bullied in the first 12 months (Army’s own figures, report arising from the recent Deepcut inquiry)

- Two thirds of people helped by Shelter, the homelessness charity, in 2001 were ex-armed forces

- Hundreds of soldiers have been sent to fight illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with defective or inadequate equipment

- Soldiers returning from the front-line are suffering record levels of mental breakdown, drug abuse and alcoholism as a result of the trauma that they have endured

The army own offices and seemingly unlimited funds for media advertising campaigns. They have mobile recruitment buses that have previously pitched up outside Tottenham Town Hall. Groups that oppose their activities are free to protest their presence in such spaces. But educational unions the NUT and UCU have taken the considered view that army recruitment activities should have no place in educational institutions, and this is a position that we intend to fight for. This is opposition to government policy, and trades unions have long fought for the right to express a political position. We plan to publicly express our position by having a protest outside our college on Wednesday lunchtime, 12.30 – 1.30pm.

Demonstrate at Tottenham Centre

UCU and UNISON have raised strong objections to management about the army in the college during enrolment, recruiting 16-18 year-olds under their FE Bursary Scheme. Although there are of course a range of views about the army within the UCU and UNISON, our common concern is for the welfare of our students and a profound distaste that they are being recruited with inducements and under false pretences to ease the army’s recruitment crisis.

Misleading Propaganda

The UK has been criticised at the UN (Child Soldiers Global Report 2008) as the only country in Europe which recruits 16 year-old into the armed forces. A recent independent report by the Joseph Rowntree Trust (www.informedchoice.org.uk) has condemned the army for using false and misleading propaganda to recruit young people. Army literature emphasises comradeship, active lifestyle, travel and training opportunities. It omits or obscures the risks of dying (estimated at one in 36 of those sent to Afghanistan), the long-term damage to physical and mental health, the legal obligations of enlistment and the demands of a military lifestyle.

Army Failing in Duty of Care

A full-page article in the Observer newspaper on Sunday (‘Record numbers of ex-soldiers in jail as combat leaves mental scars’) supplies further damning evidence of the damage that our students may suffer if we facilitate their signing-up. According to the article, ex-soldiers comprise the largest occupational group in the prison system, with the number doubling in the last 4 years to 8500. The Howard League for Penal Reform attributes this to ‘‘an inability to cope with civilian life, particularly for those who joined the services on leaving school’. Veterans in Prison argue that ‘‘they’re fighting in back-to-back conflicts, coming out and going back again; they haven’t got time to recover. There are not enough of them. They don’t have the right cover or equipment and they’re absolutely knackered’