CENTENARY OF THE MILITARY SERVICE ACT 1916 AND CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS

That this House recognises that 2 March 2016 marks the centenary of the Military Service Act 1916 which has enshrined within it the first inclusive right to conscientious objection; further recognises that, despite advances in the human rights of conscientious objectors in the last 100 years, citizens remain financially conscripted into the armed services; and considers that to fully recognise the freedom of conscientious objectors there should be the capacity to allow them to register as a conscientious objector to military tax and direct the proportion of their income tax that goes to the Ministry of Defence to be placed in a non-military security fund, thus allowing all taxpayers to be able to contribute their taxes towards national security with a clear conscience.