Petition opens dialogue on armed forces visits to schools

A  joint Quaker/ForcesWatch petition on the military  presence in Scottish schools, which was signed by over 1000 signatories, was given a preliminary hearing by the Public Petitions committee of the Scottish Parliament on 15 September.  General Meeting’s Parliamentary Liaison Officer, Mairi Campbell­-Jack, introduced the petition, which called for greater scrutiny, guidance and consultation on armed forces visits to schools.

The Committee decided to write to the Scottish Government, the Ministry of Defence and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) for more information. There will then be an opportunity to respond to the information they submit, so a public dialogue has been opened up.

The hearing was covered by Commonspace, STV, the BBC and the Herald.

The hearing can be heard 50 minutes into the Petions commitee in the video below and a transcript is available to download.