13 Feb Richard Burgon and the Peace Pledge – could it be popular? – the Article

British Foreign Policy Group Researcher, Flora Holmes, wrote for comment site the Article on the ‘Peace Pledge,’ unveiled by Labour Deputy Leadership Candidate Richard Burgon, arguing that whilst the pledge is full of impracticality, it does speak to genuine public sentiment on military intervention.

Flora said: “However, while Richard Burgon’s proposal appears unrealistic and in practice would be hugely difficult and cumbersome to implement, the sentiment it expresses is tapping into a public mood that has been developing since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Burgon’s Peace Pledge allows for exceptions, in cases of “genuine national emergency” or when an intervention has already secured the backing of the United Nations. Recent research compiled by the British Foreign Policy Group reveals that any recent UK military interventions that did not fall into these categories were either not approved of by the public at the time, or have been regretted since.”

Flora went on to say that: “The figures for support of military intervention are noticeably lower among Labour Party members. This raises an important point about the democratic legitimacy of Burgon’s plan. Labour’s membership is at around 580,000 — a small subset of the population. For a government to consult only this group on military action would deny that action the kind of legitimacy that Richard Burgon and his plan are attempting to achieve.”

You can read the full article here.

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