[LESS INFO] 373 VIEWS | ADDED 09:13:58 12/22/09
The inaugural meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ending and Preventing War took place on Monday December 7th, 6.00-7.30pm in House of Commons Committee Room 20 (changed from Room 6). This first meeting of the new APPG was hosted and convened by Elfyn Llwyd MP (Plaid Cymru). In his invitation letter to colleagues Elfyn had written as follows: ?I believe that we have a duty to expose and put right the failures of our present political system and with that end in mind I am setting up this APPG to stop the unlawful war with Afghanistan, to halt the indiscriminate killing of civilians, to end the occupation of Iraq, to prosecute UK war criminals, to increase Parliament?s understanding of the laws of war and bring a permanent end to Britain?s unlawful involvement in armed conflict. We are holding our inaugural meeting on December 7th at 6.00pm in Committee Room 6. Our intention is to use the opportunity to brief interested Members on the legal issues and to agree the membership, format and initial strategy of the Group. If this project is to succeed it will need your help, so please do join us and help us to bring about a fundamental change in the way Britain manages its foreign affairs. If you are unable to attend the meeting but would like to join the group please let me know.? The letter was accompanied by a copy of Chris Coverdale?s latest paper ?The Illegal War with Afghanistan? (see the Resources section of this website) and sent to a selected 50 MPs and Peers. A further some 270 MPs were contacted from the office of Make Wars History. Because few were able to attend this first meeting yet had registered messages of support and/or interest in joining the new Group, a follow-up meeting is planned for January, soon after the House reconvenes.
