As taxpayers we are required to make a financial contribution to Trident through our taxes. These taxes paid for the illegal war in Iraq and the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan.
Last week as David Cameron rattled his sabre in Scotland's direction and told us he would be replacing Trident and keeping it in Scotland, I was reminded of an elderly friend, whose family are Quakers. During WW2 he was one of the 60,0000 people who registered as conscientious objectors.
As a Conchie he suffered from the white feathers, abuse in the street, shunned by fellow University students etcetera. After a couple of court appearances, he was directed to accept a non-combatant role as a battlefield ambulance driver. The horrors of what he had to pick up and identify still haunt him to this day. After this stint he was directed to the UXB squad and spent the remaining war years diffusing unexploded bombs. All the time amidst accusations of cowardice.
He survived it all to marry a wonderful girl, have a happy family life, two kids, a successful career. A lifetime supporter of Labour he campaigned tirelessly against nuclear weapons, illegal wars, inequality, he even campaigned to get Jim Murphy elected in East Renfrewshire. Something he now regrets. He's not a nationalist, but does recognise that an Independent Scotland will not be the end of the world and that our people might be better served by having the right to self determination. His family took in victims of the Spanish Civil War, his pride in old Labour runs through his veins.
I've digressed long enough, one of the conversations we had about Trident, was the insane cost of it. He mentioned that the Quakers have always attempted to withold a portion of their income tax from being spent on War and its weapons. He had several times decided not to pay taxes for others to kill or prepare to kill in his name. This resulted in visits from bailiffs to recover money, and once a rebate from the Inland Revenue which had taken too much tax in the first place.
All this got me thinking, that we as a nation have become so very passive in protesting. We take to the streets to march in polite order to protest genocide in Iraq and then go home and watch news as entertainment. We no longer allow ourselves to be pissed off to such an extent that we actually do something.
The Quaker idea of withholding taxes which fund weapons of mass destruction is something we should all aspire to. If enough people withhold a proportional amount of their taxes, the already overburdened legal system would be teetering on the verge of collapse, pro Trident politicians of all stripes would be forced to listen. We already know that Scotland does not want Trident, we specifically do not want the UK's entire nuclear warhead capability sitting in the water a mere 25 miles from our largest city. David Cameron, might just realise that Scotland does not want Trident.
It's time to take a stand.
Posts
