Earlier this week, Israeli drones reportedly struck the Gaza flotilla🔗 carrying humanitarian aid — a clear escalation in an already devastating war.
The Gaza flotilla, organised by international NGOs and solidarity movements, was attempting to bring basic necessities to civilians trapped under siege. In response, Italy and Spain announced they would each send naval vessels to accompany and protect the flotilla🔗 — a rare move that puts them in direct opposition to Israel’s actions.
A country brought to a halt
This political shift didn’t happen on its own. It was driven by people. Across Italy, tens of thousands joined protests and general strikes calling for an end to Israeli attacks and demanding accountability from their government.
On 22 September, Italy was virtually shut down:
Ports were blocked
Train stations closed
Mass demonstrations swept through Rome, Milan, Naples, and more
Schools and universities participated in coordinated walkouts
Guardian report on the Italian shutdown🔗
This was a nation speaking with one voice: No more complicity in war crimes.
And what about the UK?
While Italy and Spain are now protecting humanitarian aid, the UK is still arming those responsible for its destruction.
Let’s be clear:
Between October and December 2024, Labour approved £127.6M in arms exports to Israel — more than the entire Conservative government did in four years.
Since 2015, the UK has issued over £474M in arms export licences to Israel, including for drone and aircraft components.
Our taxes fund the Ministry of Defence to the tune of £69 billion a year — money that supports weapons, surveillance, and military action around the world.
Much of that money flows through the Consolidated Fund🔗, a central pot controlled by HM Treasury, where there’s no opt-out, no transparency, and no ethical oversight.
If you’re paying tax, and that tax is funding war, and you do nothing to stop it, you are complicit.
People power is working. But it needs to grow.
The UK is not neutral. It is financing and enabling the systems that are killing civilians, destroying infrastructure, and starving Gaza.
And that’s why No Tax For War exists. We are building a peaceful, lawful resistance — using legal trusts to withhold taxes that would otherwise fund war, genocide, and crimes against humanity.
We are not evading tax. We are refusing to fund illegal acts. And we are doing it together.
