The next Meeting of Edinburgh CND will be on Monday 7th November. 6pm in the Peace and justice Centre. We will be discussing follow-up to our EWJF meeting and all the other things that have happened in October.

 
Fantastic news from the United Nations General Assembly, as the majority of states voted in favour of arranging a conference in March 2017 to agree on a nuclear ban treaty.
Just 38 countries voted against the resolution, including shamefully the UK. Thank you to the thousands of you who wrote to the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson asking him to support the conference. This ensured that the issue is definitely on his agenda. And now we will campaign to make sure the UK is represented at the talks.
CND urges the British government to rethink its approach and to support and participate in the UN conference in 2017.
There will be a briefing session to report back on the progress on this journey towards a global ban on nuclear weapons. Edinburgh 7pm 14th November Quaker Meeting House, 7, Victoria Terrace

For a comprehensive history and analysis of the talks see http://lasg.org/wordpress/   LASG also tell us that despite arm-twisting by a number of nuclear-armed states, the resolution was adopted in a landslide. A total of 57 nations were co-sponsors, with Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa taking the lead in drafting the resolution.

The UN vote came just hours after the European Parliament adopted its own resolution on this subject – 415 in favour and 124 against, with 74 abstentions – inviting European Union member states to “participate constructively” in next year’s negotiations.

The UN resolution can be accessed here: http://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com16/resolutions/L41.pdf

Also see http://www.unfoldzero.org/un-agrees-to-nuclear-prohibition-negotiations/ for more explanation of this and other UN resolutions

Please take action and  (1)contact the BBC – lets flood them with demands that they cover this news. (2) Sign the open letter to Boris Johnson from MSPs and Peace organisations
(see it here http://www.banthebomb.org/ index.php/102-uncategorised/ 1892-open-letter-to-boris- johnson)

Extra note from Open Working Group: António Guterres, former head of the UN High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) has been selected as the new Secretary-General of the United Nations (UNSG). He will take up this position in January 2017. Reducing the threat of nuclear weapons and facilitating nuclear disarmament are key objectives for the new UNSG.

The campaign against Trident continues in Parliament, despite MPs voting in favour of replacement in July. MPs from across political parties have supported Early Day Motions calling for Trident replacement to be cancelled, an end to nuclear warhead convoys and for the government to support calls for a treaty to ban nuclear weapons to be negotiated. Please urge your MPs to support all of these important motions and ensure that nuclear weapons do not slip down the political agenda. It takes two minutes to send an email to your MP, but could make a difference to these campaigns.
http://cnduk.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50a46ed98fb9032bd46d11880&id=fa74a83c14&e=96dcf14be7
Also see CND website for Liberal Democrat policy review and anniversary of the Lucas report.

NEW:Please can you ask your MP to sign early day motion 577 :That this House notes the publication of the Nukes of Hazard: nuclear bomb convoys on our road report, published on 21 September 2016, which documents the nuclear warhead convoys which are regularly driven across the UK; is deeply concerned that Freedom of Information requests have shown that these convoys have experienced more than 180 incidents, including breakdowns and collisions, in the last 16 years; is further concerned that an opinion poll showed low levels of awareness of the convoys among the public in the areas through which they routinely travel; believes that this report highlights the dangers inherent in transporting nuclear weapons around the UK; and calls on the Government to take immediate steps to cease this practice.

News from Scottish CND                                                                            1. SCND has been informed by John Ainslie’s family that a service of thanksgiving for John’s life has been organised on Friday November 4th at 2 pm at the Wellington Church 77 Southpark Avenue Glasgow G12 8 LE . The family have said anyone who wishes to attend will be welcome.   It is also likely that Scottish CND will organise an event to pay tribute to John’s contribution to our organisation and the wider peace movement. This event is likely to take place in a few weeks time and we will provide further details nearer the time.

2. Resolutions have been submitted for discussion at the Scottish CND AGM (Sat, 12 Nov, Friends Meeting House, Glasgow, 10 am).
Any amendments to these motions should be emailed to the Scottish CND office by Saturday Nov 5th at 12 noon.

Other News:

1. Next meeting of Don’t Bank on the Bomb is at 2pm on 8th November in the Edinburgh Peace and Justice (P and J) Centre

2.1 P&J Centre Sent a Message to UK & France: Protect Unaccompanied Children On Tuesday 18 October a vigil was held calling for the UK to fulfil its pledge to welcome thousands of unaccompanied refugee children to the UK, especially from Calais and for France to insure protection of the children in the Calais camp. We delivered letters to the Home Secretary Amber Rudd and to the French Minister of the Interior the following day. Please follow up with your own letters. The P and J is also collecting winter clothing for refugees.

2.2 The Peace and Justice Centre along with other Edinburgh Peace Groups is promoting the distribution of White Peace Poppies around Edinburgh and across Scotland more widely this year. The Origami Crane workshops continue on a Saturday afternoon.
Next Sunday night is Radical Voices at the Victoria Park Hotel, Ferry Road, Leith. Our theme this time is is Peace is Possible

3. Next meeting of Scottish Peace Network: Tuesday 10th January at 2 pm in the Electron Club, Centre for Contemporary Arts, 350 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow G2 3JD. Minutes of the October meeting are available

4. The Iona Community: Working for Peace and Justice in the Middle East With Hind Khoury, Kairos Palestine 5pm Tuesday 1 November 2016
Elisabeth Templeton Room, New College,
University of Edinburgh 7.30pm Tuesday 1 November 2016
Café Camino, St Mary’s RC Cathedral Little King Street, Edinburgh
Working for Peace and Justice in the Middle East
With Hind Khoury, Kairos Palestine
7.30pm Monday 31 st October 2016The Iona Community, 21 Carlton Court Glasgow

5.If you haven’t already, please consider buying a copy of Tin Cole’s book, Britain’s Secret Wars (http://clairviewbooks.com/pages/viewbook.php?isbn_in=9781905570782). The book has
endorsements from Noam Chomsky and John Pilger.