******Join Edinburgh Stop the War at their stall 1 – 3pm on Saturday 29th October at the east end of Princes street where we’ll be joining with friends from ECND, SWILPF and the always present Women in Black to sell White Poppies****

It is with great sadness that we report the news that John Ainslie, co-ordinator of Scottish CND for over 25 years, passed away, Friday 21st October.
John made a remarkable contribution to Scottish CND and the wider peace movement during his lifetime.
He produced outstanding reports which made the case against nuclear weapons in a way which carried authority and respect across the political spectrum.
John ran the Scottish CND office for many years and he was a tireless organiser of events and activities all aimed at making the case for a nuclear weapons free world.
Scottish CND and the wider peace movement have today lost a massively influential figure and friend who will be sadly missed. .
We are immensely grateful to John for his intellectual vigour, organisational and strategic skills, and sheer commitment he gave to our organisation over so many years.

Any condolences and messages of sympathy sent to the office will be collected and sent to John’s family.

1. The United Nations is currently considering a proposal to begin negotiations on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. This important initiative comes from the UN’s Open-Ended Working Group on Nuclear Disarmament – supported by the majority of states across the world but boycotted by the UK.
ask your MSP to support Motion S5M-01986
Right now the United Nations First Committee is debating the setting up of a conference next year to negotiate a nuclear weapons ban treaty. In spite of the nuclear weapons states including the UK putting pressure on non nuclear states more and more are speaking up to co-sponsor the resolution. There will be a vote on it next month and campaigners who are present are hopeful of it passing.
Ask your MSP to support Motion on a Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty.
In spite of the nuclear weapons states including the UK putting pressure on non nuclear states more and more are speaking up to co-sponsor the resolution. There will be a vote on it next month and campaigners who are present are hopeful of it passing.
Meanwhile Alison Johnson MSP has tabled a motion at the Scottish Parliament in support of this huge leap forward towards a nuclear free world. Pleasevcontact your MSPs and ask them to support motion S5M-01986.
More information on at http://scraptrident.org/ and on Scrap Trident Facebook page.
A huge number of CND supporters have written to Boris Johnson calling on the UK Government to back the initiative. In 2014 CND supporters forced the Government into a u-turn on attending an anti-nuclear conference in Vienna and with your help we can secure another victory.
There is still time to write to the Foreign Secretary and make your voice heard on this crucial issue. You can email Boris Johnson through the CND website.
(more information at the end of this posting)

++++++2.Job Opening with WEA Scotland
Education Coordinator – ‘Bringing to life the meaning of Conscientious Objection across Scotland’ Project
Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the WEA are seeking a dynamic Education Co-ordinator to develop and lead an exciting new educational project: ‘Bringing to life the meaning of Conscientious Objection across Scotland’. This national project will focus on the Scottish legacy of those who conscientiously objected to the first world war and will be centred on three specific geographical areas, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

3. Nuclear warheads are frequently driven through the UK, passing towns and villages, travelling past schools and hospitals. A recent report by the Nukes of Hazard project found that there have been a large number of incidents involving these convoys.CND is part of the campaign to raise awareness of these convoys and calls on the government to take action to stop them. Working with others CND is organising a lobby of MPs in their constituencies on 25 and 26 November in order to highlight the issues and call for action to be taken.

4. Email Theresa May, Amber Rudd, MPs, MSPs for the Calais children.
Please take a few minutes to send emails to the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary urging them to take in all the unaccompanied children immediately. For model letters and links to their addresses to send emails go to http://peaceandjustice.org.uk/get-involved/take-action/
You can also find there a model email to send to your MSPs to ask them to support a resolution calling on the UK to admit the Calais children.
Stella Creasy MP today. Yesterday she told the Prime Minister that 18 of the 178 children in the Calais refugee camp who have the right to be in the UK with their family have gone missing. Her Government has known about these children since July 2016. Please ask her to track down these children and protect all those remaining in the refugee camp who have the right to be in Britain as the French begin demolishing the camp.

5. Anti-nuclear campaigners have condemned Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith’s announcement that Labour will not review its Trident policy before the general election. Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said: “This is a very poor and irresponsible decision for Britain’s future security. “In refusing to revisit its Trident policy, the Labour Party has missed a huge opportunity to set out a defence policy fit for the 21st century.

6. October Drones Campaign News: https://dronecampaignnetwork.wordpress.com/

7. Nonviolent Resistance to the Nazis.Book Talk with author Geroge Paxton
7 – 9pm. Tuesday 25 October. Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre.
5 Upper Bow, Edinburgh EH1 2JN. George Paxton is a Trustee of The Gandhi Foundation whose aim is to spread knowledge of Gandhi and his ideas mainly in the UK. He edits their quarterly journal, The Gandhi Way, and is the author of ‘Sonja Schlesin: Gandhi’s South African Secretary’. End note: if you would like to use the desks or meeting space at the P and J contact them for details.

8. Politicians, activists, and members of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament will gather in Manchester this weekend for the campaign’s annual conference. Exploring how campaigners will work together to abolish nuclear weapons, CND Conference 2016 will hear from Rebecca Long-Bailey, who is shadow chief secretary to the treasury and MP for Salford and Eccles; Aaron Bastani, founder of Novara Media; as well as speakers from the Campaign Against Arms Trade, Nuclear Free Local Authorities, and others.
Conference: New political times, new campaigning methods?
Sun 23 October 2016 10:00 – 15:00 The Mechanics Centre, 103 Princess Street, Manchester M1 6DD Our open conference in Manchester this Sunday promises to be a very important event to reflect on these fast changing political times.

9. Film Screening & Discussion The Man who Saved the World, 17 Nov, 6:45 – 9:00 pm Grosvenor Cinema, Ashton Lane, Glasgow

10. Next Scottish peace network meeting was agreed for Tuesday Oct 25 at 2pm
White poppy stalls will take place on Friday Oct 28 (Glasgow) and Saturday Oct 29 starting at 12 noon (Edinburgh). Thursday, October 27, from 5 to 6 pm at Dewar’s statue on Buchanan Street in Glasgow centre there is a peace vigil.

+++++=11.Resolutions have been submitted for discussion at the Scottish CND AGM (Sat, 12 Nov, Friends Meeting House, Glasgow, 10 am). Including 2 from ECND.
Any amendments to these motions should be emailed to the Scottish CND office by Saturday Nov 5th at 12 noon. Contact Edinburgh CND for further details

++++++12. New CND Xmas card by artist Neil Burridge.
You can get a pack of six, with envelopes, for just £4.

MORE ON THE UN TALKS
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) will brief the media on the likely adoption by the UN General Assembly of a resolution (draft available here) to begin negotiations in 2017 on a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons.
On Thursday, 13 October, a cross-regional group of nations formally submitted a draft resolution to the First Committee of the UN General Assembly to establish a mandate for negotiations in 2017 on a “legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.
The resolution acts on a recommendation made in August by a UN open-ended working group on nuclear disarmament in Geneva. More than 100 nations participated in the working group, with an overwhelming majority expressing their support for the prohibition of nuclear weapons as a first step towards elimination.
Co-sponsors of the resolution include Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa. We expect that it will be adopted with strong support, on a date between 26 October and 2 November.
The resolution proposes two negotiating conferences to be held over 20 days in March, June and July 2017, at the UN Headquarters in New York. All UN member states, along with international organizations and members of civil society, will be invited to participate. The negotiations could continue into 2018.
A treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons would close the “legal gap” in the existing regime governing nuclear weapons. It is an anomaly that these are the only weapons of mass destruction not yet prohibited under international law in a comprehensive and universal manner.
Chemical weapons, biological weapons, anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions are all expressly prohibited. Most nations agree the prohibition of nuclear weapons is the only appropriate course of action in light of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of their use.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a global coalition of more than 400 non-governmental organizations in 100 nations, working to establish a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons. It was launched in 2007 and has its headquarters in Geneva.
Friday’s briefing is an opportunity for media to learn more about the draft UN resolution, the likely effect of the proposed treaty, how the negotiations might play out in 2017, and who is in favour of and against a ban An historic UN Resolution on “Taking forward multilateral disarmament negotiations” that is being tabled at the United Nations General Assembly this month to mandate the start of negotiations in 2017 on a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons. This resolution has been put forward by Austria, Mexico, South Africa, Ireland, Brazil and Nigeria following the recommendation of a UN Working Group, at which the overwhelming majority of states supported the call for ban treaty negotiations in 2017.
SCND Secretary, Janet Fenton, has been involved in discussions within United Nations structures which have taken place over the last years and she will be in New York in the next few days to take part in further UN related discussions.
For people based in Glasgow SCND will be holding a briefing session on Oct 25th to report back on the progress on the journey towards a global ban on nuclear weapons. ++++Edinburgh 14th November Quaker Meeting House, 7, Victoria Terrace
Edinburgh 7-9pm+++. For all the rest we will try to keep you up to date with articles on the website, emails and social media feeds. There is also article in Bella Caledonia

And lastly we have been asked to draw attention to ‘The Cultural Left’ a progressive cultural movement based in London. The Cultural Left movement has been formed as a respond to the everyday concerns and awareness of the vast majority of the people working in the Arts, Cultural and Creative Industries and sectors.
We also get frequent updates from Australia.