Later this month negotiations will begin at the United Nations to formulate a ban on nuclear weapons. http://nuclearban.org

UN talks on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons has the overwhelming support of the British public, a new poll reveals.
The YouGov poll, commissioned by Abolition 2000 UK, asked a representative sample of UK adults, “Do you personally think the UK government should or should not be participating in [the upcoming nuclear ban treaty] negotiations?”. 75% of those polled said yes. Full results can be found at: https://yougov.co.uk/
It comes in the wake of news reports suggesting that the Government would not attend the talks beginning later this month. Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said:
“The hypocrisy of the government’s position is staggering. These are UN multilateral negotiations for a treaty to ban all nuclear weapons. The government says it supports multilateral nuclear disarmament, so why is it boycotting a serious attempt by the overwhelming majority of the international community to do just that?

There is an open group of campaigners in Scotland who have formed a working group to support ICAN and the Ban Treaty
negotiations that are starting in New York in a couple of weeks. The working group is FOCUSSED ON THE DISTINCT OPPORTUNITIES FOR CAMPAIGNING HERE IN SCOTLAND. Next meeting is TODAY 20th March in the SCND offices at 10am or it is possible to join by Facebook https://scottishcnd.org/

N B Signatures are still needed for the e-petition:
http://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/175096
And you can write direct to your MP (see previous post more details)

In addition to the 123 countries supporting the ban, inspiring advocacy has emerged from the Hibakusha. They are the survivors and descendants of those affected by the Hiroshima nuclear bomb in 1945.
Reiko Yamada, a Hiroshima survivor, and Midori Yamada, a second generation Hibakusha, will begin a tour of the UK later this month to coincide with the opening of the treaty negotiations.
Reiko remembers the moment the bomb dropped: ‘The children in the sports ground started to shout “It is B29! B29!” […] Suddenly the rain started which made us completely wet – we were told later that this was the black rain. The sun had disappeared in the sky and a grey cloud had spread all over.”

Liberal Democrats have voted at their Spring Conference on Trident replacement. They decided to support the building of three submarines rather than four and an end to the practice of continuous deployment of submarines.
Delegates rejected an amendment from grassroots party members which opposed Trident replacement. The vote comes after a year-long review to which CND contributed.
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said: “Whilst we recognise that the Liberal Democrats do not support the full folly of Trident replacement, they have today missed an opportunity to join the many voices in British politics opposing Trident replacement and calling for the programme to be cancelled.”

Other News:

Please join the call to appoint Ministers for Peace and Disarmament to avoid the dangers of history repeating itself.
Click this link to sign petition … https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/178703
APPOINT MINISTERS FOR PEACE AND DISARMAMENT
There should be a mechanism that would make it easier to achieve peace than to achieve war, easier to facilitate peace in Northern Ireland than to start a war in Iraq. Proposal that UK governments must include the senior cabinet positions of Ministers for Peace and Disarmament.

Meetings and events:
1. Edinburgh Stop the War are meeting today (20th) 7.30pm at the Edinburgh Quaker Meeting House Victoria Terrace

2. 1. Fly Kites Not Drones: Sat 25th March 1pm at the Meadows

3. May Day organising committee (Edinburgh CND is part of this): Monday 27th 7pm at Edinburgh’s Hepworth Halls Nicholson Square

4. Next Scrap Trident Meeting 5th April 6pm at the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre

5. Next Edinburgh World Justice Festival meeting: 6pm Thursday 6th April at the Peace and Justice centre

6. The next Scottish Peace Network vigil will take place this Thursday 23rd from 5-6pm at Glasgow Dewar’s statue