February 22, 2019



Belfast, Northern Ireland



Thirty years ago the political landscape was much different as the left in politics had a pacifist and non-interventionist policy. In the 21st century we have seen a rise of those on the left who advocate for interventionism and at times advocating for military action if it is in pursuit of “saving human lives”.



This is simply unacceptable.



We need to adopt pacifism once again. This pacifism must not only extend to the military but to how we treat other nations – especially ones which are different than our own. Debate TD.VII on the subject of Nationalism has brought to my attention that we need to stop seeking to enforce our values onto the world. We the British have tried that before and it was a nasty sorry affair that can still be seen today in countries which suffered under colonialism.

I do not call for us forgetting those who suffer under tyrannical Governments – we should help them by offering them asylum in the United Kingdom. We cannot force our values onto other cultures as they cannot force their values onto us. By enforcing our values we become perpetrators of cultural imperialism.



We are not enlightened people who must “show the way” to native peoples in their home countries. I believe that the Liberal Left often believe that we need to teach native peoples how they should act. Doing this is detrimental to their society and is not pacifism. Pacifism goes further than just non-violence. Pacifism is the act of non-violence in all senses of that phrase. A pacifist will not advocate for forcing a person or group to do something they do not want to do. It goes further than what most believe. I do not advocate for pragmatic pacifism as many on the TLC benches argue for, but I argue for total pacifism – not just for the individual but for political parties.



I argue that cultural imperialism is a form of violence. It seeks to supplant native ideology with our own, with a nativist attitude that the world will only be good if everyone follows British (or Western) values – because that would be best for our citizens. Instead of supplanting their values with our own we should instead focus on improving our nation. Our own country faces income inequality, issues with housing, and a myriad of issues that need to be fixed. How do we expect to enforce our values onto others when our values are not perfect?

The pacifists who make up Parliament need to become more vocal in their opposition to violent acts. The United Kingdom needs to leave NATO and we need to position ourselves into a position of neutrality. Any overseas deployment of our army should only be for humanitarian matters, which does not include causing instability in a region. We will never be able to do this while in NATO. We will always be called into wars that involve other people and British men and women will die for it – and we will participate in the slaughter of other men and women. The slaughter of men and women is disgusting to me and I will never support said slaughter.



The only form of military action we should take is when a foreign enemy seeks to land on our shores and fight us. We must only fight defensive wars and in doing so we need to follow our own rules of combat. Parliament should look to providing more medical services to soldiers to provide for the soldiers, citizens, and wounded enemies. An enemy of us is still a person to all – and life must be respected, or else we shall fall into a pit of darkness that few can climb out of.



Remember that the United States of America was once a neutral nation, but since participating in wars and foreign interventionist policy they have become highly warlike. The United Kingdom was also warlike in nature but it is now time to become a neutral peaceful nation. Neutrality will provide us the best way to help all people in the world through humanitarian aid.



Not only must politicians take up pacifism but so must the people of the United Kingdom. I am a Christian and the idea of pacifism is not a new concept to me. It is hard to understand that pacifists are needed. Us pacifists know that by participating in a system of violence we do more harm than good, even if the end result of the violence is good. Participating in a broken system does not fix it, but only reinforces it.



As a member of the left within the Labour Party being a pacifist is not a surprise. However it seems that other members of the left have confused pacifism for pragmatic pacifism. Pacifism is rejecting violence completely – not seeking to have pacifism as an end but not the means.



In this Parliament it is up to you, the reader, to hold Parliament accountable to your views. I suggest to you, dear reader, that you begin to investigate the cause of pacifism for yourself. There are many authors which write on pacifism. If the ideals of pacifism as a means and an end strike true with you please write to your Member of Parliament to express your interest in making the United Kingdom truly pacifist.

u/Cenarchos, The Right Honourable The Lord Lurgan