Note arrangement for booking places at the ICAN/Swilpf meeting on the 23rd (see below)

NEW: Edinburgh Sees Syria Rally will be at the Scottish Parliament, 2.30pm Saturday 12th September. Edinburgh CND at the East end of Princes Street from 1230
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has condemned a new round of UK air strikes in Syria which have resulted in the deaths of British citizens.
David Cameron told the Commons today that RAF drones had undertaken strikes at the end of August, and had targeted and killed a British citizen, and that another British citizen, who was not targeted, was also killed.
CND General Secretary Kate Hudson said:
“That a British citizen was targeted and killed by these strikes – and another killed by mistake – is particularly alarming and sets a dangerous new precedent. This is extrajudicial killing: a British Prime Minister now claims the right to kill British citizens when they travel abroad.”
“We must also remember that Parliament voted against strikes in Syria in August 2013. This latest round of strikes is a further violation of the will of parliament.                                                                                                            ”Protest in Harmony singing session this saturday is a We Welcome Refugees Special. rehearsal is 10-1 at the Quaker Meeting House, 7 Vic­toria Ter­race, Edinburgh. There will be a break for people to have lunch then we will be busking the songs on the Royal Mile from 2-3pm to raise money for local Refugee support charities, and from 3-4pm we’ll be singing at the Edinburgh Sees Syria event outside Holyrood.

EdinburghCND will be meeting on Monday 7th September at 6pm in ACE 17 W Montgomery Pl, Edinburgh, Midlothian EH7 5HA. Wee will be discussing our input into the Edinburgh World Justice Festival (ewjf).
We have 2 main inputs:
1. The main festival event on Saturday 3rd October
2. Our own meeting on Monday 5th October.
Austerity, Debt, and Military Spending Quaker Meeting House 5 October, 7.30 -9.30 pm.
In addition we have agreed to help at the schools event on Friday 2nd.
There are also meetings on Monday 12th (Scottish Wilpf) and Monday 19th (Edinburgh Stop the War) which we may wish to input into. http://www.ewjf.org.uk for more information

Edinburgh Stop the War will be leafleting at the East End of Princes Street from 1 – 2.30 on Saturday 5th – there is a new leaflet, a petition and they will be encouraging people to attend the Edinburgh sees Syria event on the following Saturday (12th). EdinburghCND will also be leafleting on the 12th from 1230 to 1pm at the East End of Princes Street NEW: Edinburgh Stop the War e-newsletter no.180
http://www.edinburghstw.tumblr.com – for up to the minute news and activity
event here https://www.facebook.com/events/685711964897261/

News from other organisations:
1. nuClear News No.77 September 2015 is now available for downloading here:
http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/nuclearnews/NuClearNewsNo77.pdf                                                                            2. Peace and Justice Centre News http://peaceandjustice.org.uk                                                                                  3. WalkatJurra Walkabout updates available (see earlier posts)
4. Next meeting of the Scottish Peace Network is on Thursday 24th September at 7pm in the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre
5. The next CAAT Edinburgh meeting will also be on Monday, 7th September The main items will be and update on our take action conference on Saturday 31st October, 11:15 am to 3:30 pm in central Edinburgh which will focus on divestment campaigns, arms to renewables, and preventing debt from weapons sales, plus celebrating CAAT Edinburgh’s 20th anniversary. Please save the date. More information will be sent out soon.                                        6. Scottish Wilpf: 100 years of Women Campaigning for Peace: Out of the Blue Drill Hall 36 Dalmeny Street, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 8RG Exhibition – 4th – 23rd September Wool Against Weapons Scotland and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Radical Creatives’ Café Saturday 5th Sept 2-5pm     (see earlier post for more detail)                                                                                                                                                                                  7. Scottish Wilpf and ICAN meeting:
Bill Kidd MSP, as co chair of the nuclear disarmament cross party group will host guests on Wednesday 23rd September from 6.30 – 8.30pm at the Scottish Parliament, marking UN International Day of Peace and UN International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. The early evening discussion will highlight and support the Humanitarian Pledge, initiated by the Austrian Government, which aims to fill the legal gap in the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons. The meeting is hosted by the Scottish section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (S WILPF) with support from SCND and other members of the Scrap Trident Coalition. The meeting will address humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, including the particular relevance for women and girls, and examine the ways in which gender structures stand in the way of disarmament. Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs has been invited to contribute some introductory remarks. A panel, including Dr Claire Duncanson Lecturer in International Relations University of Edinburgh, Mia Gandenberger WILPF project Programme Manager with Reaching Critical Will in Geneva, Rebecca Sharkey UK Coordinator International Campaign for Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), along with European diplomats will offer academic, political and activist perspectives. Please email Janet Fenton to book a place janetscotlands4peace@yahoo.co.uk

Other News:                                                                                                                                                           Strategic Defence and Security Review
The UK government published its last Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) in 2010. Our main criticism at the time, was that Britain’s nuclear weapons were not included in the strategic review – there was just an assumption that Trident would be retained and replaced. This was in spite of the fact that the National Security Strategy published at the same time lowered state on state nuclear threats to a ‘tier 2’ threat level.
The government is now working on a new SDSR and it is repeating the same mistake: nuclear weapons possession will not be questioned. This time they have opened the process to include public submissions: so they want your input!
This is the opportunity to make our point loud and clear: nuclear weapons possession must be questioned – and we can explain the reasons why. Please submit your input. Feel free to draft your own response, or a template reply can be found at the CND website at http://www.cnduk.org/cnd-media/item/2233.
National Demonstration at Tory Party Conference in Manchester
4th October
Assemble 11:30am
The TUC is organising a national demonstration against austerity at the Tory party conference in Manchester, and CND will be bringing the Scrap Trident message to the demo. We hope you can make it! Please look at the CND website, or give us a call, for more information.
Programme for the day:
11:30am: Assemble at All Saints Park on Oxford Road
1:00pm: Opening rally
1:30pm: March through the city on a route that circles the Conference Centre, ending at Deansgate/Whitworth St for coach pick-ups
Whether you plan to attend or not, please click ‘going’ on the Facebook page to help spread the word about the demo! And please remember to invite all your friends!
CND Lobby of Parliament
Mark your calendars for CND’s lobby of Parliament on 4th November. As we will be close to a possible parliamentary decision on whether or not to replace Trident, the theme will be No Trident Replacement. So start preparing your arguments to bring to your MPs on what is going to be a brilliant day of people-powered political persuasion!