All taxes collected in the UK, for example council tax, VAT, stamp duty and vehicle tax are directed to Parliament’s Consolidated Fund and bank accounts run by the government. While much of this is spent on the NHS, education, welfare and local government, between 5-10% of this fund is used to finance military operations, through the Ministry of Defence, therefore every £100 that is paid in tax or indirect taxes contributes £5-£10 towards war. Another 10% goes towards paying interest on the national debt, which includes costs incurred from previous conflicts.
Since 1945 the UK has been directly involved in 83 illegal military interventions worldwide, causing the direct and indirect deaths of at least eight million people. Since 2001, British governments has spent £1.2 trillion of taxpayers money fighting or supporting illegal wars against smaller, weaker, undefended nation states, killing 1.2 million adults and 600,000 children, injuring many more and driving 15,000,000 refugees into exile and destitution.
Britain continues to invest in multiple illegal conflicts worldwide, including the sale of military supplies to Israel, an occupying force which has violated international law since its ‘recognition’ by 33 member countries of the UN in 1947. Foreign and Commonwealth Office lawyers have warned the government their actions are in breach of international law.
National debt currently stands at £2.975 trillion and increases by £5,170 per second. 6.7 million people are in financial difficulty and 14.4 million people live in poverty of which 4.2 million are children. The interest on our national debt is 116BN and we pay a further £68BN to the MOD which combined equates to £6,560 per UK household.
Pie charts B.1 and B.2 below illustrate taxes collected and public spending. Image 3 shows how taxes spent on war could be reallocated to benefit the taxpayer and their communities.


