The Stop the War Coalition (StWC) was founded in September 2001 in the weeks following 9/11, when George W. Bush announced the “war on terror”. Stop the War has since been dedicated to campaigning against and ending the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Ukraine and elsewhere.
Stop the War opposes the British establishment’s disastrous addiction to war and its squandering of public resources on militarism. We have initiated many campaigns around these issues.
We are committed to supporting Palestinian rights, opposing racism and Islamophobia, and to the defence of civil liberties.
Up to October 2023, Stop the War had organised over 40 national demonstrations, including the largest protests ever held in Britain, most memorably on 15 February 2003, when up to two million gathered on London’s streets to oppose the Iraq war. The number of demonstrations has increased dramatically since 2023 (see below).
In 2013, Stop the War was central in mobilising opposition to UK bombing of Syria, as proposed by David Cameron’s government. This led to the historic decision in parliament when MPs voted against military intervention.
Other events which Stop the War has organised are thousands of public meetings across the country, direct action in the run up to UK wars – including walkouts from schools, colleges and workplaces – People’s Assemblies, international peace conferences, vigils, lobbies of Parliament and anti-war cultural events.
We were one of the main organisers of the massive protests against Donald Trump when he visited Britain during his first term of office, and played a leading role in the campaign against further interventions in the Middle East, including opposing support for the Saudi-led war on Yemen. As the US with British support has ramped hostilities with China, we have been campaigning with public meetings, in publications and online against the push to a new cold war.
Since October 2023 we have been part of the national Palestine coalition of six pro-Palestinian organisations organising regular national marches in London and local actions in towns and cities around the country, in demand of an end of the genocide in Gaza, and end to UK arms sales to Israel and a free Palestine. Despite attempts by ministers and police, our demonstrations have seen well over a million people on the streets opposing the British government’s complicity in genocide.
Individuals can become members of the Stop the War Coalition, and we welcome affiliations by supporting organisations and trade unions. Members and affiliates must support the aims of Stop the War as set out in our constitution.
