The war in Ukraine is mired in a terrible stalemate. It has already led to hundreds of thousands of casualties. Whole regions of the country have been devastated; millions of people have had to flee. We oppose both the Russian invasion and NATO’s escalation. There is no prospect of military victory on either side, but the longer the war goes on, the greater the carnage and the higher the risk of nuclear confrontation.
The British government is the second biggest supplier of arms to Ukraine, sending £4.6 billion worth of weapons to fuel the catastrophe. We believe that this is wrong in principle and that it is especially reprehensible to be increasing arms spending at a time when the Tories claim that they can’t afford to keep schools safe, the NHS properly funded or workers properly paid.
The sooner peace talks start the more lives will be saved. We join the worldwide calls for an immediate ceasefire and a negotiated peace and demand that our government stops escalating the conflict.
Brian Eno, musician and Stop the War President
Mark Rylance, actor and writer
Yusuf – Cat Stevens, musician
Claudia Webbe, MP and Stop the War Patron
Clare Daly MEP
Lindsey German, Stop the War Convenor
Kate Hudson, CND General Secretary
Tariq Ali, writer and campaigner
Sarah Woolley, BWAFU General Secretary
Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate
Salma Yaqoob, Stop the War Patron and human rights activist
Yanis Varoufakis, author and campaigner
Mary Adossides, Greater London Trades Association of Trades Union Councils President (personal capacity)
Anas Al-Tikriti, Cordoba Foundation
Tayo Aluko, actor, singer and writer
Mohammed Asif, Afghan Human Rights Foundation Director
Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK
Cat Boyd, writer and PCS National Officer in Scotland (personal capacity)
Peter Brierley, father of a British soldier killed in Iraq
Victoria Brittain, journalist and author
Alex Callinicos, Emeritus Professor, King’s College London
Kevin Courtney, former NEU Joint General Secretary
Emma Dent Coad, Kensington & Chelsea Councillor and former MP
Oliver Eagleton, author and assistant editor New Left Review
Andrew Feinstein, author
Alex Gordon, RMT President
Lord John Hendy KC
Ian Hodson, BFAWU President
Peter Hooton, musician
Alex Kenny, Stop the War Co-Chair
Jinsella Kennaway, Demilitarise Education Executive Director
Mohammed Kozbar
Riccardo La Torre, FBU National Officer
Paul Mackney, former UCU Joint General Secretary
Kika Markham, actor
Roger McKenzie, Morning Star International Editor
Andrew Murray, Stop the War Vice President
Richard Norton-Taylor, journalist and writer
Alex Nunns, author
Dave Randall, musician and writer
John Rees, writer and campaigner
Louise Regan, NEU International Committee Chair
Ceren K. Sagir, DAY-MER Turkish and Kurdish Community Centre
Alexei Sayle, comedian
Justin Schlosberg, Insititute for Journalism and Social Change
Yurii Sheliazhenko, Ukrainian Peace Activist (currently under house arrest)
Jonathan Steele, journalist
Joelle Taylor, broadcaster and author
Sean Vernell, UCU NEC member
Haifa Zangana, British Iraqi poet