STOP PRESS: All bus tickets sold BUT please contact us if you want to go to London. We can help. edinburghcnd@yahoo.com

As we all know CND is calling a massive demonstration in London on 27th February to protest against Britain’s nuclear weapons system: Trident.
Join the Scottish bloc on the march to say Scrap Trident and say No to government plans to buy a new system at a cost of over £167 billion.
Get a bus ticket through Eventbrite. We leave Glasgow (George Square) at 21:00, Friday Feb 26th then onto Edinburgh (Waterloo Place) leaving at approx 22:15 then down to London. There is also a coach from Stirling. For more info and tickets from Stirling please contact Alasdair Ibbotson on 0785 674 9264 or click here.
If you require accommodation please fill in this form.
Check all the details about the demo and the programme here.
DO WE NEED A CONVERGENCE SPACE?DEADLINE THURSDAY 5.00PMCND UK want to make sure that not just Nicola, but all the campaigners from Scotland are looked after when they come down for the demo. They have arranged a convergence centre not too far away with parking space for buses and cars, breakfast, somewhere to sleep and wash your face either night and a safe place to leave stuff you don’t want to carry during the day. Because people have not booked in, they may need to cancel.They need to know exactly what we want. If you are going by public transport, or in a bus,and feel that any of the above would improve your trip, please register your interest BY THURSDAY 18TH AT 5.00PM.The best way is by completing the form https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CR8N798which has space for any questions you need to ask before you decide.For those going down early there is a great rally on the Friday evening at Friends House (opposite Euston Staion) and for those staying on their will be a chance to meet with international campaigners on Sunday

The Public and Commercial Services Union has backed the demo.
In a statement the union said “PCS national policy opposes Trident renewal because it is a costly and unnecessary programme that does nothing to improve our national security.
“It should be scrapped, with the money saved to be reinvested in our public services and infrastructure, generating thousands of jobs in the process.Those people currently employed to work on Trident should be given re-training and re-employment as part of this process.” PCS is the latest to back the Stop Trident demo organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, joining twenty five national organisations, including War on Want, Greenpeace, Pax Christi, Stop the War Coalition, Friends of the Earth, Quakers, Green Party, and the People’s Assembly Against Austerity.  A group of Labour MPs also say they will support the demo.

CND is funding bus ads. See http://cnduk.org if you wish to help. If you’re lucky enough to spot a #StopTrident bus, please tweet a photo – they are @CNDuk on Twitter.

On the news front: There are reports that the Trident vote will be delayed until June, July or October: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/11/trident-vote-delayed-by-david-cameron-until-after-eu-referendum     https://www.rt.com/uk/332283-trident-vote-eu-delay/   In addition to these political arguments it should be noted that those who advocate a quick decision were doing so on the basis that it was needed to meet the 2028 in-service date, but the SDSR put back the in-service date to “the early 2030s”, probably around 2032. It is also hard to see how major contracts could be signed before the new management structure for the defence nuclear programme is in place.

For a good long read on Trident try:
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/11/trident-the-british-question

Other News:                                                                                                                                         Recently a nuclear warhead convoy used parts of the Edinburgh bypass on its route from Coulport to, presumably, Burghfield or Aldermaston. These regular convoys look set to continue for decades if Trident is replaced. Please contact your MP and tell them this constituent objects to these cargoes moving around the country, putting us all at risk.
Where is the evidence that the UK is negotiating in good faith to ban or reduce the number of nuclear weapons, as is I believe, demanded by the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty that we signed years ago?
‘I strongly support any actions you may take, as my MP, to stop these potentially catastrophic loads for good.’

NuClear News No.82 February 2016 is now available for downloading here: http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/nuclearnews/NuClearNewsNo82.pdf

Peace and Justice Centre news for February http://peaceandjustice.org.uk

Other Meetings: (1) Saturday 20 February – at the Assembly Rooms – we will be running a workshop that looks at Trident and war in the Middle East at the RIC Conference – for more details go to http://www.radical.scot

(2)[ScottishPeaceNetwork] Next Meeting: Tuesday 1st March at 2 p.m. in Edinburgh

(3) Forces Watch meeting Monday 14th March: Quaker Meeting House in Edinburgh

Don’t Bank on the Bomb:  Trident: How the banks have their fingers on the button https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/3468/trident-how-the-banks-have-their-fingers-on-the-button

News from Australia: The Walkatjurra Walkabout will be happening again in August this year (more info coming soon at http://www.walkingfrcountry.com) there is a strong possibility that we will be coordinating this with a gathering in Kalgoorlie at the end of the Walk. We are also in the process of discussing ways to Run / Convoy to the Pine Gap gathering at the end of September to bring attention to the 50th Anniversary.