You may have heard about the Armed Forces Day on June 27. We are told it is to “encourage greater understanding and appreciation of our Armed Forces by the British public”.

It’s going to be fun! It is, in fact, a thinly disguised recruitment campaign to get more young people to join the armed forces and for the British public to remain enchanted by the military.

It is part of the continuing indoctrination of the British public that war is not only inevitable but also swathed in glorious righteousness.

You are less likely to have heard about the celebrations of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU) that will also take place on the same day to commemorate 75 years of working for peace.

The PPU was founded in 1933 as concern grew that the war to end all wars (WW1) would soon be followed by another even more devastating war (WW2).

Since then, the white poppy of the PPU has been a symbol of grief for everyone harmed by war and a commitment to work towards a world without violence and with justice.

Working for peace is not a soft option. Martin Luther King knew that when he delivered the lines, “Those of us who love peace must organise as effectively as the war hawks. As they spread the propaganda of war, we must spread the propaganda of peace.”

Also, I am put in mind of another person whose powers of reasoning are beyond doubt: Albert Einstein – “The pioneers of a warless world are the young men who refuse military service.”

Don’t be duped by Armed Forces Day. Fun doesn’t have to involve violence.

Joan West, Blackburn Old Road, Great Harwood