Latest Northern Friends Peace Board report

Ukraine and Gaza

The ongoing military conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza dominated the activities of NFPB members during 2024. Three questions were posed to us:

• What has your response been to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza?
• What particular issues or concerns have these raised for you and with other Quakers with whom you’re in contact?
• What do you see as the challenges and opportunities in working for peace in relation to these wars?

The NFPB has sought to promote understanding of the nature of the conflicts and also of possible routes to peace. The very nature of war is that it is messy, and our responses, individually and collectively, are varied – sometimes very clear, and sometimes grappling with dilemmas.

To go back in time over 100 years ago, The All Friends' Conference of 1920 was a gathering in London of Quakers from around the globe. It was the first world conference of the Society of Friends and, in considering their testimony against war, they declared the following:

“You cannot foster harmony by the apparatus of discord, nor cherish goodwill by the equipment of hate. But it is by harmony and goodwill that human security can be obtained. Armaments aim at a security in isolation; but such would at best be utterly precarious and is, as a matter of fact, illusory. The only true safety is the safety of all, and unless your weapon of defence achieves this work, or works towards this, it is a source of antagonism and therefore of increased peril.”

Now in 2025 these words seem as relevant as when they were first written.

Military Spending

How much money the UK Government spends on its military is an ever-present concern for the NFPB. The UK has seen the following:

• £54.2bn in core military spending in 2023/24
• £100,000 spent on the military every minute
• Record NHS waiting lists
A historic drop in UK living standards

The conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza are driving political pressure to increase military spending. At this stage in the conflict, might more resources now be directed to building and strengthening diplomacy and non-military ways forward? The conflicts continues to have a devastating cost to people and the environment in which they live.

When is enough enough?

Climate Crisis

The NFPB reaffirmed its position that peace and action against the climate crisis go together hand-in-hand.

In April, the UK parliament agreed a new legally-binding target of a 78% cut in carbon emissions by 2035 in line with recommendations by Independent public body the Climate Change Committee (CCC).

However, Britain is not even on course to meet its 2025 target, so the CCC has urged the government to markedly increase domestic action. Among its recommendations is that government spending on emissions reduction should increase very rapidly to between £9bn/y and £12bn/y – and that other (non-budget) measures are also needed to help switch or stimulate the rest of the UK economy to spend at least £40bn/y.

This would require, for example, a doubling of the government spending planned for 2021-22. But note this is only to reach the net-zero carbon target by 2050. A growing number of climate scientists argue that we need to hit this target before 2035.

We have known for some time that climate change is a threat multiplier and that there is a climate cost to war. And, of course, both kill a lot of people.

The best estimates we have is that militaries are responsible for 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. If the global military were a country, this would place it fourth in terms of its emissions, between India and Russia.

The NFPB asks, “might the government do more to recognise the security implications, opportunities and needs for urgent action on climate change, and change spending priorities accordingly?”

By continuing to campaign for a more peaceful world, the NFPB echoes the belief that we will have a more greener world.

Peace is necessary to give the climate a chance.

Parliamentary engagement in Scotland

In May, the NFPB were pleased to be joined by Sarah Komashko, the Parliamentary Engagement Officer for Quakers in Scotland. In a full and informative presentation, Sarah gave an insight into the ways that she, with and for Friends in Scotland, is pursuing a number of concerns, peace being significant amongst these.

Her work has included further work to promote peace education, following the launch last September of the Peace at the Heart exhibition in the Scottish parliament. Friends have also been engaging with Scottish Enterprise (Scotland’s economic agency) in relation to public funding that goes to support companies involved in the arms trade.

The Scottish Government made a commitment in 2021 to establish a Scottish Peace Institute. As a step towards that they are now preparing to set up a Peace Platform and Friends in Scotland will be looking at ways to have a Quaker input.

Iona Community

To end on a more reflective note, at the September meeting of the NFPB, we were joined by Ruth Harvey who, as well as being a Penrith Quaker, is currently serving as leader of the Iona Community. Ruth had been invited to talk about the Community’s peace concerns and action in particular. As a foundation stone, Community members state: ‘Inspired by our faith and loving concern for the world, we pursue justice and peace in and through community’.

Ruth reflected on the roots of this commitment to nonviolence, and the different ways it is taken forward through partnership, membership of wider bodies, public witness and through work and events at the island centres on Iona and Mull.

As Ruth spoke I was reminded of our Friend Chris Rose and his own experiences and writings about the Iona Community.

It's definitely a place I would like to visit.

Image(s) from NFPB