This weekend on Sunday 14th April, Hull will be subjected to a garish military display in the city centre. Under the guise of a parade of those awarded Freedom of the City (a local authority award reserved for those who have made meaningful contributions to the city), a march of military personnel and cadets will take place alongside an exhibition of the latest British military equipment.

Just last month the Lord Mayor Kalvin Neal awarded the Freedom of the City (FotC) to South Yorkshire and Humberside Army Cadet Force and to the 152 City of Hull Air Cadet Force. At the same time he called for the return of the Hull FotC parade. Such parades celebrating those who have received this award have taken place in the past, but this year’s is clearly being used to push a military recruitment agenda.

The parade will include the two cadet groups, with a cadet marching band leading, as well as 250 military personal (and presumably any other people awarded FotC, though lets not pretend this is actually about them.) The parade will be inspected by the Mayor before setting off.

Further demonstrating that this is nothing more than a slimy recruitment exercise, a “Military Village” is being set up to show off the latest and shiniest British military equipment. The local government website assures us that it is “free for visitors of all ages”, continuing the focus on recruiting children, as with the cadets.

As to why the Lord Mayor (a.k.a. the Admiral of the Humber) is doing this, it becomes much more clear when it’s revealed that he not only has a military background but is also an active Army Reserves recruiter. This is not some poor attempt by a Mayor to simply create an interesting event for the city. It is an army recruiter using a position of power to push his narrative and draw in the young people of our city. As we creep ever closer to direct imperialist conflicts we can expect to see the state use all the tools available to push the military on us. This is just the beginning. We must resist in every way we can.

We advise everyone to avoid the Hull city centre this Sunday and to encourage their friends and family to stay far away.

No to military recruitment! We won’t fight wars for the rich!