Edinburgh CND will be leafletting on Saturday 11th July 1230 at the East End of Princes Street.

We have a number of events planned on and around 6th August (Hiroshima day). Watch this space.

Other News:

Ask your MP to join those backing CNDs EDM The Government is currently undertaking a Strategic Defence and Security Review to set priorities for defence spending. Trident replacement is not being included, but more than 70 MPs have signed EDM 73 urging the Government to ensure that Trident is considered at this stage. We expect MPs to vote on Trident replacement in 2016. It is vital that as many MPs as possible join our call for the SDSR to include a review of Trident so that the changing international security situation and ongoing cuts across government departments can be considered. Please join the hundreds of people who have already contacted their MP and ask yours to sign EDM 73 by clicking http://act.cnduk.org/lobby/edm73

CND has also urged MPs to learn the lessons from recent military actions following Defence Secretary Michael Fallon’s support for extending military action against ISIL to Syria. CND has warned that military action would be opposed by the public and that MPs should be afforded a full opportunity to debate and vote on any proposal. CND spokesperson Kate Hudson warned, ‘Recent history shows that US and UK military action in the Middle East and North Africa has been ill-conceived, leading to death and destruction for innocent civilians, and shattered states – both of which were abandoned by their attackers – where terrorists including ISIL have since been able to organise’. ‘It is welcome that the new Conservative chairs of both the Defence and Foreign Affairs Committees, Julian Lewis and Crispin Blunt – who both voted against military action in Syria in 2013 – have warned against such action today, and identified the need for a regional solution. Their approach recognises the problems created by UK military action and chimes with public opinion which opposes further military action. ‘

‘MPs clearly voted against military action in Syria in 2013 and the Prime Minister accepted that decision at the time. He must afford MPs the same rights to scrutinise and vote on authorisation of such action in this Parliament.’ ‘We bombed ISIL into existence. We can’t bomb them out of existence.’

Labour Leadership election
After securing 35 nominations and a place on the Labour leadership ballot paper, CND Vice-Chair Jeremy Corbyn MP has been taking his anti-Trident stance to hustings events around the country. The BBC report of the first event in Stevenage reported that Jeremy “received some of the warmest responses from the audience as he spelled out his “moral” opposition to renewing Trident”.

NuClear News No.75 July 2015 is now available for downloading here: http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/nuclearnews/NuClearNewsNo75.pdf

July edition of the Peace and Justice Newsletter is now available: http://peaceandjustice.org.uk

Next meeting of Scrap Trident is Friday 10th July in Glasgow. Next meeting of Don’t Bank on the Bomb group is Tuesday 11 August 3:30pm at the Peace and Justice Centre and a Scottish PeaceNetwork meeting is being planned.