Last events for 2018:
1. Monday 17th December: 7.30 – 9pm End of year social Join Edinburgh Stop the War for a mince pie and a drink at the Peace and Justice Centre, 5 Upper Bow, Edinburgh EH1 2JN https://www.facebook.com/events/198706991039051/
2. Saturday 15th December: 2.1 In Glasgow: Scottish CND received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to fund a mobile ‘Peace of History’ exhibition to chart the history of Scottish CND since we were founded 60 years ago. It is being launched at 12:30pm on Saturday December 15th in the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, G3 7DN (Granville Street entrance). The exhibition will be available for people to view until 4:00pm and then it will travel around the country next year. If you would like it to come to your area, let us know at scnd@banthebomb.org. 2.2 In Edinburgh: Scotland Against Criminalising Communities Conference. Islamophobia 2018 – Scottish Conference Sat 15 Dec 2018 11:00am to 5:00pm Quaker Meeting House,7 Victoria Street, Edinburgh,EH1 2JL
NEWS
- CND on the INF Treaty:
Anti-Anti-nuclear campaigners visited the Foreign Office on 7th to hand-in thousands of letters addressed to the Foreign Secretary calling on the government to save a pivotal nuclear arms control agreement.
President Trump recently announced that he intends to withdraw the US from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia. The nuclear treaty saw the elimination of nearly 2,700 short- and medium-range missiles and has played a crucial role in ensuring that US nuclear missiles are not situated in Europe.
The letters, signed by thousands of members of the public, call on the government to condemn the decision by President Trump as other Europeans countries have done. Standing by and allowing crucial nuclear arms control agreements to be torn up places the whole world in great danger.
President Trump’s announcement that he intends to withdraw the US from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Force (INF) poses a serious threat to diplomatic attempts to curb the deployment of nuclear weapons.
This withdrawal from the INF treaty is part of a wider pattern of the US disengaging from essential international nuclear treaties. Earlier this year, the US withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, removing its support for a treaty which sought to denuclearise Iran.
The British government needs to step up and defend the INF. If you haven’t already, you can still use our lobby tool and write to the Foreign Secretary to demand that action is taken to save this crucial treaty. The treaty is less than 60 days away from being torn up following an announcement by the US government. President Trump had already announced that he intended to withdraw the US from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia. This is a vital nuclear treaty which has ensured the destruction of nearly 2,700 short- and medium-range missiles and has played a crucial role in ensuring that US missiles are not situated in Europe Sara Medi Jones, CND acting general secretary, said: “This ultimatum by Trump is unhelpful, and frankly reckless. While we call on both Russia and the US to fully comply with the terms of the INF, threatening to withdraw from the treaty in two months rather than proposing negotiations to resolve the outstanding issues is a risky decision. extra read recommended by ICAN: https://www.parliament.uk/documents/lords-committees/International-Relations-Committee/NPT-and-Nuclear-Disarmament/npt-call-for-evidence.pdf
STOP PRESS: URGENT ACTION: Save the INF nuclear treaty. President Trump has now set a date for withdrawal from the historic 1987 INF nuclear weapons treaty. This threatens a new nuclear arms race and makes nuclear war more likely. Please contact your MP via the link: https://cnd.eaction.org.uk/inftreaty And the Foreign Secretary: https://cnd.eaction.org.uk/lobby/savenucleartreaties
2. CND on Trident: 2018 has seen the Trident replacement programme lurch from crisis to crisis. 2.1 Read about the latest problems – safety fears at the Faslane naval base – in this issue of Campaign magazine. You can also read about how arms companies are getting involved in our children’s education. CND slams Faslane safety record Read Campaign: December edition
Download Campaign: December edition
2.2.Anti-nuclear campaigners have responded to the government’s latest Trident spending announcement. Sara Medi Jones, CND acting general secretary, said: “Trident is bankrupting the Ministry of Defence. This extra £400 million for Trident adds to a growing body of evidence that replacement of Britain’s nuclear weapons system is running over budget. “A National Audit Office report earlier in the year suggested a £6 billion black hole in the MoD budget, and last month’s report indicates a £7 billion to £15 billion black hole over the next 10 years. “Business as usual cannot be an option – the consequences for other defence sectors and wider public spending are just too serious. In writing blank cheques for Trident replacement – ring-fencing an amorphous budget no matter what the impact on other areas of spending – it is bankrupting the MoD and putting the security of Britain at risk.
p.s. CND presents and more news: https://cnduk.org Last minute Christmas Shopping?
3. Nuclear Ban news Manchester becomes first European city to support global nuclear ban The first Scottish Council, Renfrewshire, will be the next to pass a resolution on the 13th December. ICAN add; Catalan Mayors for Peace Vice President Granollers passed a resolution the day before so we were the second European city but we won’t quibble! NFLA Website: http://www.nuclearpolicy.info – includes links to NFLA Facebook and Twitter pages including NFLA media release, for immediate release, 11th December (now on website) 2018NFLA elects new Chair as the problems of new nuclear arise againMayors for Peace Website: http://www.mayorsforpeace.or
4. Beyond Nuclear International: 4.1STOP PRESS: (a) Our beautiful “blue marble” is in trouble. Climate change is upon us and world leaders have let us down. Worse than that, the current US administration is actively trying to restore and boost the fortunes of fossil fuels and nuclear power. Nuclear subsidies — which could keep dangerous old nuclear plants running for as long as 80 years — rob renewables of essential support while lining the pockets of nuclear corporations that cannot hold their own financially. This only makes climate change worse. Beyond Nuclear plays a crucial role in working to stop the diversion of millions of dollars from needed renewable energy toward failing nuclear power plants. Your donations help support those efforts and more. Nuclear power is too slow to make any impact on climate change but instead heightens the risk of a catastrophic accident while accumulating ever more lethal radioactive waste that no one knows how to store safely. The time for debate is over and the time for action is upon us. (b)Children and young people are rightly angry that their future has been compromised, if not destroyed, by the failure of governments to act adequately or in time on climate change. One group of young people is suing the US government despite multiple efforts to delay or derail their case. The rebels of the 1970s included Austrian anti-nuclear activists who cut and pasted the famous Asterix books into new versions telling an anti-nuclear story — eventually halted due to copyright infringement but not before appearing in multiple languages. 4.2 The UN Special Rapporteur who earlier criticized Japan for exploiting the workforce at Fukushima, allowing unnecessary risks and exposures, has now said that Japan should stop sending evacuees home to radiation exposures 20 times higher than permissible before the nuclear disaster. We have his story. And as the Climate Conference (COP 24) gets underway in Poland, Linda Walker delivers a compelling list of reasons not to “nuke the climate.”
5. Conscientious Objectors Memorial update Alison Johnstone MSP (Co-Convenor Scottish Greens) has lodged a motion in support of the Memorial which has been signed by a dozen MSPs and which was debated just after 5pm Wednesday 5 December. Please come along to Scottish Parliament to be in the public gallery during the 7 minute debate and meet with Alison either just before or after the debate. Please ask your MSPs to support The Crowdfunder has raised over £17,000 so far. This brings total fundraising so far to over £35,00 and will enable us to commission Engineer’s drawings, seek planning permission and run workshops to involve folk in the project. http://peaceandjustice.org.uk
STOP PRESS: The meeting of the Steering Group of the Opposing War Memorial Committee will take place Tuesday 18 Dec at the Peacee & Justice Centre from 5 – 6pm. The debate at Scottish Parliament Alison Johnstone MSP’s motion in support of the Memorial was a great success. 22 MSPs signed the motion and 8 MSPs, from all parties, spoke in support.
6. Los Alamos Bulletins 250 and 251 http://www.lasg.org/
- Report on the affirmation made by the UN Human Rights Committee that the threat and use of nuclear weapons is a violation of the Right to Life (as codified in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights);
- Invite legislators and civl society leaders to endorse the Move the Nuclear Weapons Money campaign, which calls for nuclear weapons budgets and investments to be re-allocated to better purposes, such as combatting climate change and supporting the Sustainable Development Goals;
- Highlight parliamentary events at COP 24, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland, Dec 2-14, including the launch of a new international parliamentary network for renewable energy.
One of the key events Parliamentary Meeting at the United Nations Climate Change Conference hosted today (Sunday December 9) by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Policy parliament.
Parliamentarians, climate experts and representatives of parliamentary organisations discussed parliamentary actions to ensure implementation of the Paris agreement on Climate Change, including those outlined in IPU’s Parliamentary Action Plan on Climate Change. For more information about divestment from nuclear weapons and fossil fuel industries see Move the Nuclear Weapons Money and 350.org Go Fossil Free divestment campaign
8. Added bit: Lloyd Russell-Moyle MPhas written a little explanation about the grabbing the mace in case you’re interested.
edinburgh cnd 