Quaker Peace & Social Witness November Mailing

Housing: Responding to social inequality and injustice

At Yearly Meeting 2015 we were reminded that the housing problem in Britain is not insoluble – although, as with the abolition of slavery, it may take some time (Qf&p 23.23).

As a continuation of the session at Yearly Meeting, a threshing meeting was held at Woodbrooke in September 2015 with the aim of helping Quakers in Britain strengthen individual action and to suggest how we can be more effective collectively in this area of social inequality and injustice.

The meeting began to identify alternative models and different strands which Friends might wish to work on. These are seen not  as isolated issues, but as interconnected and with many existing and potential links to activity already within BYM. Eight specific ideas are captured in the minute made by the group at the end of our weekend together.

The housing minute is available online [PDF: 89kb]. For further information contact Paula Harvey; paulah@quaker.org.uk / 020 7663 1036

Welfare reform

link to previous blog post 

Thank you to all those who responded to our recent action alert about the Welfare Reform and Work Bill. The Bill is currently at its 2nd reading in the House of Lords.

We are working with other faith groups to urge Peers/Members to support amendments that would remove or reduce the impact of clauses 11 and 12, which limit the support provided to families through tax credits and Universal Credit to the first two children.

When the Bill returns to the House of Commons there may be further opportunities to lobby your MP. Many Friends may have been disappointed by the initial response of their MP but please do not lose heart. This is a slow process but there is movement and raising your concerns is having an impact.

More information about what Quakers in Britain is doing about the Bill, as well as the joint briefing to the House of Lords, is available at http://old.quaker.org.uk/wrwb or from Ellie Roberts; ellier@quaker.org.uk / 020 7663 1056.

also of note 38 Degrees campaign is seeking funds to put posters up in Conservative MPs constituencies about tax credits link here

Climate justice through Paris

If you are wondering what you can do to uphold climate justice during the climate negotiations in Paris in December then visit http://old.quaker.org.uk/climate-justice for ideas and links to more detailed briefings, or contact Ellie Roberts; ellier@quaker.org.uk / 020 7663 1056.

You might want to:

Join the People’s March for Climate, Justice and Jobs, on 29 November in London (and 28 Nov in Cardiff and Edinburgh). Sign up for the march to let us know you are coming and to join a Quaker meet up point.

Tell the UK government to stop financing fossil fuels abroad. We have joined with Christian Aid, as part of their ‘Big Shift’ campaign, to tell Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, to make a public commitment to ending the government’s support for coal projects through export credit guarantees.

Come to Friends House on 14 December to hear Eileen Flanagan, US Quaker climate activist speak about the journey that led her to handcuff herself to the White House fence. More details about the talk on the event page.

To stay in touch with future climate justice activity, and what QPSW is doing on economic inequality too, make sure you sign up to the Earth and Economy mailing list. We email updates once a month, and circulate a full newsletter twice a year, with the latest edition just out!

***Freddie from Milford Haven/Haverfordwest intends going there for the last day.***

War and conscience

2016 marks the centenary of the introduction of conscription and the recognition of the right to conscientious objection in law. Speakers on ‘Objections to war: A Quaker approach’ are now available for meetings to book. To request a speaker for your meeting, please contact Helen Bradford; helenb@quaker.org.uk / 020 7663 1071.
www.quaker.org.uk/WWI

Friends have long argued that it is the conscription of our money rather than our bodies which makes war possible today (Qf&p 24.19). We are continuing to support Conscience: taxes for peace not war in their work to introduce a ‘Taxes for Peace’ Bill into Parliament. More information is available at www.conscienceonline.org.uk

Be the change

QPSW has teamed up with Quaker Life to develop a new resource to support young Quakers to take action on Friends’ concerns. It’s called Be the Change.

To begin with, we have chosen three themes – ‘tackle inequality’, ‘create climate justice’ and ‘no nukes’ – each of which will be the focus of much Quaker activism in the coming year.

There are postcards for young Quaker activists to get started on the three campaigns and a webpage for each so that they can collaborate online – planning, sharing and publicising their activism together.

To request postcards for young people in your meeting email Cat Waithaka at catw@quaker.org.uk or 020 7663 2011. To get started, young Quakers should go to www.yqspace.org.uk/bethechange and create a ‘Causes’ account, which will allow them to share their activism online.

Peace education

The new Fly Kites Not Drones peace education pack is now available. Inspired by the internationally successful project from Afghan Peace Volunteers, it introduces children and young people to creative nonviolence in action.

In or out of school, the pack offers activities to learn about the impact of drones on human rights and on children in particular, inviting young people to come to their own critical understanding of the issue.

The resource pack is available from www.flykitesnotdrones.org  and hard copies are available from the Quaker Centre;  quakercentre@quaker.org.uk / 020 7663 1030.

Conflict resolution led by young people

Quakers were at the forefront of developing peer mediation in Britain. Recently, Quakers from Hammersmith Local Meeting supported a local school to train its first peer mediators. A team of Year 6 pupils are now on hand to help fellow pupils find win-win solutions to the conflicts that inevitably arise in school, just as they do in any part of life.

We are hoping to support more Quakers with a passion for peace education to take steps to support schools in their area to develop peer mediation. Contact Ellis Brooks; ellisb@quaker.org.uk  / 020 7663 1009 if someone in your meeting would be interested in joining other Quakers in a ‘train the trainer’ workshop to develop their skills as a peer mediation facilitator.

To stay in touch about future peace education activity, as well as what QPSW is doing around disarmament sign up to receive Educate & Disarm

QPSW peaceworkers

Each year QPSW recruits peaceworkers to support the work of peace organisations at local, national and international levels. This year our UK peaceworkers are Rhianna Louise, Zara Rizvi and Holly Wallis. Look out for their journal letters on our website in early December.

Rhianna Louise is placed with Medact in London, working on issues around revitalising the health for peace movement and the recruitment of children (under 18s) into the British armed forces.
www.medact.org

Zara Rizvi is placed with Omega Research Foundation in Manchester. Her project is on the use of military, security and police equipment in committing human rights violations.
www.omegaresearchfoundation.org

Holly Wallis is placed with Conscience: taxes for peace not war, to play a key role in their work to promote a Conscientious Objection to Military Taxation (COMT) Bill.
www.conscienceonline.org.uk

 

urgent action on the Welfare Reform and Work Bill

An urgent action alert, from Quaker Peace & Social Witness, to ask you to contact your MP about the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, due to be debated in the House of Commons on Tuesday 27 October. Please also forward this others who are likely to be interested. 

Some MPs are still deciding whether or not to support the Bill so it's important that as many of them as possible hear your concerns. If you have already contacted your MP there are still things you can do.

The Welfare Reform and Work Bill forms a key part of the Government’s strategy to make a further £12 billion of cuts to our social security system. The welfare section of the Bill will hit some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and will have a particular effect on children, large families and people who are unable to work because of sickness or disability.

It is hoped that as many people as possible will be able to raise their concerns about the Bill. Please let Ellie Roberts know when you have emailed your MP and send us a copy of any reply you receive, by contacting ellier@quaker.org.uk. This will help QPSW to understand how MPs are responding to these concerns and help them plan further action around this Bill.

What can I do?

Please send a quick email to your MP, highlighting some of our concerns and drawing their attention to the Quakers in Britain briefing [PDF] about the Bill. The debate will take place on Tuesday 27 October, so it would be most useful to get in touch with your MP before then.

You could use our briefing to help frame your arguments. If you have personal experience which is relevant to the proposals being discussed please consider sharing it as this will strengthen your message.

MPs are much more likely to listen to personally written letters than standard templates. Here are some suggestions about what you could include in your email. If you already know what your MP thinks about further social security cuts do try and adapt your message accordingly.

General points:

The last round of social security cuts has already had a disastrous impact. Now is not the time to be making further cuts.

The welfare section of the Bill will increase already unacceptable levels of poverty, and make Britain an even more unequal, divided society.

Several aspects of the Bill will substantially alter the nature of our social security system by severing the link between what is necessary to meet a household’s basic needs and the amount of support it will be entitled to from the social security system. Many households, particularly large families, will not have enough money to live on and will experience severe hardship as a result.

The government is presenting further welfare cuts as an inevitable consequence of the deficit. In fact, there is nothing inevitable about further weakening our social security system. It is a political choice.

If your MP is opposed to the proposed cuts, or you don’t know what they think, you could:

Emphasise why we need an effective social safety net and that this Bill would significantly damage our social security system.

Ask them to take part in the forthcoming debates and to highlight the human and social costs of the proposed changes.

Ask them to consider supporting amendments designed to mitigate some of the most harmful aspects of the Bill and, if necessary, to vote against the Bill in its entirety.

If you know that your MP has already spoken out against the Bill, don’t forget to thank them!

If you know your MP is in favour of further social security cuts you could:
Emphasise the fact that depending on benefits is not a lifestyle choice but the inescapable reality for millions of adults and children.

Highlight the fact that children will be disproportionately affected by the Bill. The proposal to limit child tax credits to the first two children in a household will disadvantage children, simply because they have more than one sibling.

Emphasise how an effective social safety net is a vital foundation of a just and compassionate society. Proposals to dismantle this further raises uncomfortable questions about our values as a society.

Suggest that the government’s arguments that withdrawing benefits will tackle the root causes of poverty and create work incentives are flawed. There is very little evidence to suggest that this will be the case.

Highlight the fact that the reforms that the government is introducing to offset social security cuts, will only do so partially at best. Some of them will not come into force until after some of the cuts have hit, leaving many families substantially worse off, particularly in the short term.
Ask them to reconsider their position on some of the specific issues highlighted in our briefing.

What if I've already written to my MP?

Many thanks to all those Friends who have already been in dialogue with their MP about this Bill. You are probably the best person to judge whether or not it would be useful to contact them again at this stage. However, here are some thoughts that might help you decide whether this is the right course of action for you.

Where do the different parties stand?

Individual MPs will, of course, have different views about the various reforms proposed in the Bill. However, here is an overview of how the main parties stand.
Conservative: The large majority of Conservative MPs are expected to support the Bill. However some are worried about the impact of cuts to working tax credits, which were agreed separately to the Bill by MPs a few weeks ago. There is a possibility that some Conservative MPs might consider supporting amendments designed to mitigate the impact of working tax credit cuts in this Bill.
Labour: The Labour front bench is expected to come out strongly against many aspects of the Bill, and will probably instruct MPs to vote against it. However it is by no means certain that all MPs will do so.
Liberal Democrats, Green, SNP, Plaid Cymru: Have all stated clear opposition to the Bill and their MPs are expected to vote against it.

 

Quaker Peace & Social Witness inbetween mailing information

QCEA-QPSW conference: Castle or community? Quakers' role in building the new Europe | 4-6 December 2015

An opportunity to explore our vision for Europe, and connect with and build community with Friends from across Europe. Held at Chant d'oiseau conference centre, Brussels.
More details

Statement on the European refugee crisis

Meeting for Sufferings on 5 September agreed a statement which was sent out to local and area meeting clerks and to the media, and put on our website. You may well have seen it already, but we wanted to ensure that all QPSW Correspondents received it. The press release containing the statement is available online. [or see our post HERE] Please note that as QPSW does not have staff working on this subject, the best place to go for advice and support is the website of the listed informal group Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network (QARN) at www.qarn.org.uk  If there is anyone in your meeting who is doing professional or voluntary work with or for refugees, they might well find QARN a helpful network to be part of.

Quaker Peace and Social Witness July

Urgent action: Write to your MP about Susiya demolitions

Many Friends will have been following the plight of the village of Susiya in the southern West Bank. At the beginning of May, the Israeli High Court ruled that officials could carry out demolition orders on the entire village, forcibly – and illegally – transferring over 250 people from the place in which they have lived since before the Israeli occupation began in 1967.

A team of Ecumenical Accompaniers has been living in the village ahead of the demolition providing protective presence and monitoring the situation. On July 12, Israeli officials confirmed to the residents that the demolition would take place before August 3, the date the Israeli High Court was due to hear a petition from the villagers.

The situation is now urgent. EAPPI UK & Ireland has drafted a letter/email for Friends and supporters to write to their MP to ask them to act urgently to prevent the demolition.

If you would like to take action, you can find the letter along with background information by visiting the EAPPI UK & Ireland website LINK HERE. 

 Link to BBC news report 25th July

 Take action to defend our social security system

The Welfare Reform and Work Bill, which was published late last week, proposes a further £12 billion of cuts to our social security system and would have a particular effect on children, large families and people who are unable to work because of sickness or disability.
 

Why take action?

Coming on top of the £21 billion of cuts legislated for under the last Parliament the proposals will increase already unacceptably high levels of poverty and inequality in Britain. The government has presented the proposed cuts as an exercise in affordability and is also claiming that many of the measures will somehow serve to increase social mobility and tackle the root causes of poverty framing the debate in narrow financial considerations.  Quakers in Britain disagrees with both of these suggestions!

Tuesday’s debate was the first opportunity for MPs to debate the Bill as a whole and that session is likely to set the tone for the rest of the Bill’s passage through Parliament.  It’s important that the debate focusses on why we need an effective social security system and emphasises the human and social costs of the proposed cuts and other changes.

Some MPs are suggesting that they are considering supporting further welfare cuts because this is what the public wants.  It’s therefore vital that as many MPs as possible hear that this is not the case and are encouraged to speak out against those elements of the Bill which would further weaken our social safety net.
 
What can I do?

Send an email to your MP, highlighting some of our concerns about the Bill and drawing their attention to the Quakers in Britain briefing on the Welfare Reform and Work Bill.
You could use the briefing to help frame your arguments.  If you have personal experience which is relevant to the proposals being discussed do consider sharing it as this will strengthen your message.

MPs are much more likely to listen to personally written letters than standard templates. Here are some suggestions about what you could include in your email.  If you already know what your MP thinks about further social security cuts here are suggestions about how you could adapt your message accordingly
 
General points:

• The last round of social security cuts has already had a disastrous impact on individuals and families across Britain.  Now is not the time to be making further cuts.
• The welfare section of the Bill will further increase already unacceptable levels of poverty, economic and social inequality.
• The government is presenting further welfare cuts as an inevitable consequence of the deficit.   In fact, there is nothing inevitable about further weakening our social security system.  It is a political choice.

 If your MP is opposed to the proposed cuts or you don’t know their opinion you could:

• Ask them to oppose any further cuts which will further weaken our social safety net.
• Ask them to take part in the Second Reading debate on 20th July and to ensure there is a full debate about the human and social costs of the proposed changes.  The debate should not purely be framed by narrow financial considerations.
• Ask them to let you know their opinion of the welfare measures contained within the Bill.

If you know your MP is in favour of further social security cuts you could:

• Emphasise the fact that depending on benefits is not a lifestyle choice but the inescapable reality for millions of adults and children.
• Highlight that many children are living in families which receive benefits, and that this Bill would effectively punish them for simply being born.
• Emphasise how an effective social safety net, based on the principle of need, is a vital foundation of a just and compassionate society. Proposals to dismantle this further raises uncomfortable questions about our values as a society.
• Suggest that the government’s arguments that withdrawing benefits will tackle the root causes of poverty and create work incentives are flawed. The proposals in this Bill are not practical.
• Ask them to reconsider their support for the specific proposals highlighted in our briefing.

If you don’t know your MP’s email address you can find it on the Write To Them website

Don’t forget! Please let Maya Williams know when you have emailed your MP and to send us a copy of any reply you receive.  Contact mayaw@quaker.org.uk

This will help us to understand how MPs are responding to our concerns and help us plan further action around this Bill.

You can also find all this information online at www.quaker.org.uk/action-welfare-reform-work-bill 

Quaker Activist Gathering Friends House
21 November 2015
10:00-16:30


For a second year, Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) is organising an activist gathering at Friends House.
An action-focused day for Friends who identify as activists, framed in worship. An opportunity to meet with others, connect, learn, plan and be energised and inspired. Book now, and tell us what you would like from the day - we'll use your feedback to help inform how we shape the agenda.

"A chance to feel connected to others who shared my values and concerns."

The event is no cost to attend. Lunch will be 'bring and share'.
Please register online by 15 October.

"Very heartwarming and helped to contact those well-springs which can sometimes seem low."

 LINK TO THE POSTER

information from Quaker Peace and Social Witness

Take action on TTIP

Many Friends are concerned about the ongoing negotiations regarding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a free trade deal between the EU and the US.
On 10 June the European Parliament will be considering a set of recommendations to the European Commission regarding TTIP, including on the controversial investor-state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS). Both QPSW and QCEA are concerned about the implications of ISDS, which could give large corporations access to an exclusive form of justice, through which they could sue governments for billions of Euros for loss of profit due to implementation of legislation.

Despite a vigorous civil society campaign, and five European Parliament committees calling for ISDS to be excluded from TTIP, the resolution that the European Parliament will be voting on calls for a revised version of ISDS rather than its exclusion altogether. This is unlikely to solve the problems.
The Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) are encouraging Friends to write to their Members of European Parliament (MEPs), to raise concerns about ISDS. They have provided background information for Friends wishing to write to MEPs. Find this here www.qcea.org/2015/05/noisds/ or email office@qcea.org. The Trade Justice Movement are also running a campaign focussing on ISDS and you can find out more and sign-up here.

You can also read more about TTIP and ISDS in this article by Scarborough Friend David Malone, which was published in a recent edition of our Earth and Economy newsletter.

Climate lobby

17 June, Central London
For those of you that wish to come to the Climate Lobby in London on 17 June 17, this is a reminder that there is still time to sign up! The Lobby is an opportunity to meet with your newly elected MPs to call on them to take action on climate change and to challenge vested interests. Let us know you plan to come, and to receive more detailed information by signing up online.

If you have signed up already then please let your MP know that you plan to be there, and ask that they meet with you on the day. To write to your MP you can use the ‘for the love of’ online tool. You may also want to add the following sentence into their template letter:

Quakers are calling for climate justice. We want justice for those who have been unequally impacted by climate change and a global climate commitment that stops this injustice continuing. We are working to build an energy and economic system which has equality, justice and sustainability at heart. 

For those planning to attend, QPSW has put together a pack containing a mini-briefing to give to your MP, plus some tips on lobbying, www.quaker.org.uk/day-climate-action.

We're hoping for a strong Quaker presence at the lobby, so please encourage others in your meeting to get involved. Remember there's lots you can do even if you can't come to the lobby.

A ground-breaking new film exposes the tide of militarisation

An increasing military presence is entering schools across Britain. Even as the government slashed education maintenance allowance (EMA), disabled students allowance (DSA) and mental health services for young people, £45 million of new military programmes have been introduced since 2011. Help us start a public conversation about militarism in our society.

Before the film goes live help us to record examples of militarisation in the world around us. Use hashtag #unseenmarch to record examples of militarisation. Any questions email ellisb@quaker.org.uk

Watch the film online at www.unseenmarch.org.uk Going live the week of 22 June
Share the film with friends, parents, teachers, school governors and young people.
Find out about actions you can take to challenge militarism at: www.unseenmarch.org.uk

If you are not able to watch the film online, we will have a limited number of DVD copies, available for meetings. Please email the Quaker Centre at quakercentre@quaker.org.uk or call 020 7663 1030 to request these.

Programme newsletters

Advocacy actions such as these, and other news, are included in our programme newsletters. Please do encourage Friends in your meeting to sign up if they are interested.
Earth and Economy (Economics, Sustainability and Peace Programme) www.quaker.org.uk/earth-economy-signup
Educate and Disarm (Peace and Disarmament Programme) – contact Sam Walton: samw@quaker.org.uk
EAPPI monthly E-update EAPPI update - sign up
Making Waves (Turning The Tide programme) – contact Steve Whiting: stevew@quaker.org.uk

 

relating to political engagement

Climate Lobby
A QPSW day of action on climate change, including lobby of MPs
Wednesday 17 June 2015 12.00 - 17.30 Palace of Westminster

‘As members of this beautiful human family, we seek meaningful commitments from our leaders and ourselves, to address climate change for our shared future, the Earth and all species, and the generations to come.’

From Facing the Challenge of Climate Change, a shared statement by Quaker groups, January 2015, signed by Quakers in Britain.

A LINK TO MORE INFORMATION

Hustings
Friends may be interested to know that we are holding national hustings at Friends House in London on Tuesday 31 March (international affairs), Thursday 9 DOWNLOADS: Principles for a just housing policy 2015 booklet (PDF, 177KB), Housing our spiritual concern 2015 booklet April (community and sustainability), and Tuesday 21 April (economy and social justice). If you happen to be in London then, we’d love to see you there. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start.

It is hoped there will be similar national hustings in Scotland and Wales and many Friends are holding constituency hustings.

A LINK TO QUAKER VOTE: GENERAL ELECTION 2015

Housing booklets reissued
Might be of particular interest after the talk by Shelter Cymru  in Caridigan.

Inequality in housing in Britain is widening and housing options are narrowing. There is a strong sense of the need for radical change in the housing situation in Britain today. Principles for a just housing policy offers a way of describing what that change might look like. Housing: our spiritual concern offers a way of exploring how we might contribute to that change. To help Friends prepare for both the general election and Yearly Meeting 2015, these two booklets have been reissued by Quaker Housing Trust, Yearly Meeting’s own housing charity. A6 printed copies of both booklets are freely available from: Paula Harvey, paulah@quaker.org.uk
To download the leaflets: Principles for a just housing policy 2015 booklet (PDF, 177KB), Housing our spiritual concern 2015 booklet (1.56MB)

Also A LINK TO QUAKER HOUSING TRUST