UK Armed Forces Bill 2021: Write to your MP
Why does the Armed Forces Bill matter for children?
CRIN campaigns for state armed forces to end the recruitment of children under the age of 18, with a focus on the UK and its unusually high levels of child recruitment. The 2021 Armed Forces Bill is an opportunity to raise the UK’s minimum recruitment age to 18 in law. Despite repeated calls from human rights bodies, the Government has failed to address this issue in the Bill, but Parliament can debate and make changes to the Bill. If you are a UK resident, you can write to your MP asking them to protect children’s rights and welfare by supporting efforts to raise the recruitment age to 18 when the Bill is debated in Parliament. This opportunity to change the law only comes around every five years, and every letter can make a difference.
How to write to your MP
We are not providing a template letter or form, as MPs usually take less notice of these than personal emails or letters. Following the tips below will help your message to have impact.
Find your MP. Enter your address/postcode on the Parliament website to find the MP for your constituency and their contact details.
Include your full name, address and contact details. MPs are only allowed to act on communication from their own constituents, and so messages that don’t include these details are likely to be ignored.
Keep it concise. MPs and their teams get a lot of communication, and your message is most likely to be read in full if it is fairly short and to the point.
Show you care, but be polite. It is good to get across emotion and conviction about the issue, but don’t let this stray into attacking the MP or using insulting language.
Back up your points with evidence. You might find it helpful to refer to our two-page summary Why raising the recruitment age would benefit everyone. You can even attach a copy of this document or link to it in your email to the MP. We have also listed some key points and facts below.
Have a clear ask. In this case, ask your MP to speak in favour of, and vote for, raising the minimum armed forces recruitment age to 18 when the Armed Forces Bill is debated in the House of Commons this year. You can also ask them to support equalising the minimum period of service (as recruits enlisted under the age of 18 can currently be made to serve up to two years longer than recruits enlisted as adults).
Key facts
Here are some key facts about armed forces recruitment of children in the UK you might want to share with your MP:
Three-quarters of states worldwide now only recruit adults into their armed forces. The UK is one of only 16 states to recruit from age 16, and is the only country in Europe and in NATO to do so. In the British army, more soldiers are recruited at 16 each year than at any other age.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the UK’s four Children’s Commissioners and Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights have all recommended the recruitment age be raised to 18, as have veterans, healthcare professionals, human rights groups and trade unions.
Under-18 army recruits are over-represented in the most dangerous roles (the infantry). They are less likely than adults to be promoted to higher ranks, and more likely to drop out of the army before completing their training.
The Army Foundation College - the dedicated army training institution for under-18 recruits - has received 60 complaints of violence by staff against recruits since 2014, an average of ten per year.
A 2018 ICM poll found that almost three-quarters of the British public think the enlistment age should be 18 or above; less than a fifth thought it should be 16.
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