Motion 18 & Amendment
British Overseas Policy and Defence Spending
“That this Congress notes that UK Defence Spending has increased by almost 20% over the past three years to at least £53 billion annually. At the same time, key areas of social need have been exposed to savage cuts. Congress also regrets a number of policy positions taken by the UK Government that have heightened world tensions. These include the joint initiation with the US of the AUKUS pact in 2021, which has resulted in the militarisation of the Pacific, and support for US opposition to a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
“Congress equally expresses concern about evidence that in April 2022 the then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, thwarted efforts to achieve a negotiated settlement to the Russia/Ukraine war and that since April 2022, the UK Government has refused to support countries from the global south, including Brazil and South Africa, calling for a negotiated peace.
“Congress therefore calls on the General Council to be an educator for peace in the run-up to the general election; to highlight the crisis of Scotland’s Welfare State; the scale of poverty; the impact of war on inflation; supply lines and spending to meet social need; and that processes of Just Transition appear to have been reversed.
“On behalf of working people in Scotland, the General Council should stress that the massive hike in military expenditure has come at the expense of spending for public benefit and is costing jobs - not creating them.”
Mover: North Lanarkshire Trades Union Council
Amendment
Delete Para 2.
Mover: Dumfries & Galloway TUC
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