Stop the War was founded in September 2001 in the weeks following 9/11, when George W. Bush announced the “war on terror”. Stop the War has since been dedicated to preventing and ending the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere.
Stop the War opposes the British establishment’s disastrous addiction to war and its squandering of public resources on militarism. We have initiated many campaigns around these issues.
We are committed to supporting Palestinian rights, opposing racism and Islamophobia, and to the defence of civil liberties.
Stop the War has organised around 40 national demonstrations, including the largest protests ever held in Britain, most memorably on 15 February 2003, when up to two million gathered on London’s streets to oppose the Iraq war.
In 2013, Stop the War was central in mobilising opposition to UK bombing of Syria, as proposed by David Cameron’s government. This led to the historic decision in parliament when MPs voted against military intervention.
Other events which Stop the War has organised are thousands of public meetings across the country, direct action in the run up to UK wars – including walkouts from schools, colleges and workplaces – two People’s Assemblies, international peace conferences, vigils, lobbies of Parliament and anti-war cultural events.
We have been one of the main organisers of the massive protests against Donald Trump when he has visited Britain, and played a leading role in the campaign against further interventions in the Middle East, including opposing support for the Saudi-led war on Yemen. As the US with British support has ramped hostilities with China, we have been campaigning with public meetings, in publications and online against the push to a new cold war.
Individuals can become members of Stop the War, and we welcome affiliations by supporting organisations and trade unions. Members and affiliates must support the aims of Stop the War as set out in our constitution.
