Our Windows for Peace Campaign continues this month with an emphasis on the 72nd anniversery of the NHS. Fund the NHS, Stop Funding Trident.
Edinburgh CND held a zoom meeting at 6pm on Tuesday 7th July. We discussed events around the 75th Anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing and we will be holding a virtual commemoration on 6th August at 6pm. Further details to follow.
We are still campaigning in the virtual world.
We will be discussing this at our next meeting (Tuesday 7th July) which is also the anniversary of the signing of UN Treaty
3. Nuclear Power: Expensive and Dangerous. We discussed issues surrounding the possible re-re-opening of Hunterston B: why? when? what would we do?.
For the time being we will give publicity to:
A. The work of Ian Fairlie: https://www.ianfairlie.org
B. Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) Briefings: https://www.nuclearpolicy.info
C. Pete Roche: No2NuclearPower: http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk
D. Beyond Nuclear International: http://www.beyondnuclear.org
All Recommended.
4. We agreed to stick with Windows for Peace (rather than physical leafleting) at least for Saturday 13th June.
We agreed to advertise the Black Lives Matter events in Edinburgh this week. See previous post
5. Lucas Plan
At some future date we will arrange (with one of local indie cinemas) for a showing of the long version of the film.
In the meantime here is a reminder of the short one: https://vimeo.com/305253552
Paul Shaw’s info is on the Facebook page too.
It was noted how important this issue is in the context of a Just Transition.
6. Finance
A. Support for Faslane Peace Camp
B. Support for the Yes Hub Raffle: Raffle to top up funds to keep going during C-19 draw 10th June; Bottle of signed Nicola independence whisky, A tassimo expresso coffee machine, A food hamper, A bottle of aged Highland Park
D. All the June Festivals are off, but Corstophine and Leith will run next year.
Please meet IN HOLYROOD PARK (note change) where there will be social distancing circles for you to stand in.
Please also WEAR A MASK and bring water/food
THIS IS A PEACEFUL PROTEST NOT A RIOT! PLEASE KEEP 2M DISTANCE AT ALL TIMES
5.1 Join XR Peace founder, Angie Zelter in conversation with marine turned war-abolitionist David Collins, anti-nuclear and environmental activist Brian Jones, Quaker, feminist and peace activist Janet Fenton and Green Party Spokesperson on Security Issues and first President of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Rebecca Johnson. Co-hosted by XR PEACE:
https://www.facebook.com/xrpeace/ 5.2 Conference call from 5.30 pm The conference call is not only for press members but also for the general public who would like to know more about Bradwell B. Speakers:· Mr Peter Banks (West Mersea Town Councillor, member of local NGO campaign group, BANNG)· Dr Sanae Fujita (Fellow of the Human Rights Centre and School of Law at the University of Essex) To attend the conference, please register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfD7hIBlWmtSP5r32ZHZcIdgMEUyviqrCNeoONppNJIfvvBxA/viewform?usp=sf_link
APOLOGY POSTED 7th MAY:
At last night’s meeting held jointly with ScotE3 we showed the 30 minute version of Steve Sprung’s film about the Lucas Plan. We strongly recommend watching the full version and you can find out more about the film at the dedicated website. You can also follow up on current developments via the new Lucas Plan website. If you weren’t able to make the meeting you can watch the 30 minute version here https://vimeo.com/305253552.
We apologise to those who may have tried to join the meeting after it started. We had a problem with Zoom-bombing and that is why access was denied for a bit. We think we know how to avoid it in future. It is a learning experience. Do watch the short film on line and we may ask the speakers back for another meeting.
In the meantime, please join in Windows for Peace on Saturday 9th (see below) and Conscientious Objectors Day Online Scotland Vigil. Livestream on Facebook.
5:30 – 6:30pm. 15 May. To watch go to: https://www.facebook.com/edinpeaceandjusticecentre/
Wednesday 6th May 2020:
We are joining with Scot.E3 for a showing of the short version of the new Lucas Plan film followed by discussion. This meeting will be online: https://zoom.us/j/760890355
https://www.facebook.com/events/557237764890099
Friday 1st May 2020: We are planning for the May Day rally. Unfortunately, it cannot be outside this year so we have organised an online event which will be co-hosted by our own Penny Stone.
Join the Edinburgh and Lothians May Day Rally – 1pm Friday 1st May. You can join the livestream on the facebook page facebook.com/EdinburghMayDay or join via Zoom – all the details of how to do this at https://tinyurl.com/rarb8vc
Wednesday 6th May 2020:
We are joining with Scot.E3 for a showing of the short version of the new Lucas Plan film followed by discussion. This meeting will also be online:
https://www.facebook.com/events/557237764890099/
Saturday 9th May 2020:
We will be encouraging our supporters to put a poster in their window :
http://www.banthebomb.org/index.php/news/2076-windows-for-peace-placard-making-challenge
Further Reading: see our ‘Interesting Articles’ page for recent articles on Trident after Coronavirus and The NPT treaty
Saturday 11th April would be the day that we usually leaflet in Princes Street. Instead we are urging our supporters to support the SCND ‘ windows for peace’ initiative. http://www.banthebomb.org/…/2076-windows-for-peace-placard-…
The Edinburgh CND April meeting will be held on-line with the aid of ZOOM. Further details on our Facebook page or by emailing edinburghCND@yahoo.com
COVID-19: A message from Scottish CND and Edinburgh CND
We are facing an outbreak of the Covid-19 virus across the world and here in Scotland which is particularly threatening to those in our communities who are older and/or have underlying health conditions. We encourage our members and supporters to follow the official NHS Scotland advice found here.
The Scottish CND office will be closed to visitors for the foreseeable future and staff will mostly be working from home so if you have a non-urgent query please get in touch via scnd@banthebomb.org or leave a voicemail for us on 0141 357 1529. Membership, online shop orders and payments will be processed as usual, maybe with a small delay. With the help of the internet, other campaigning can continue even in lockdown – researching, letter writing and lobbying from home. Our website has various current suggestions – protesting radioactive discharges into the Gare Loch, calling for the closure of Hunterston nuclear power station and checking your local authority shows support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by signing the ‘Cities Appeal’. All of these issues concern both nuclear weapons and the environment. If you feel you want the information you cannot find then please get in touch.
The CND office in London is also shut: They explain that these are frightening times for millions of people around the world. But this global pandemic was predicted in successive government security assessments. So why are we so unprepared?
Twisted priorities have seen billions of pounds wasted on nuclear weapons rather than preparing for the situation we now find ourselves in.
This is why we’re urging our supporters to write to their MP to tell them it’s time for the government to wash its hands of Trident so we can begin to address the real security threats we face. Hundreds have already taken part, and we ask you to spread the message further. Click here for the lobby tool.It’s also a crucial time to make the case for NHS not Trident.
Internationally: Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament are also monitoring parliamentary action and policy analysis of the coronavirus pandemic situation and the connections to security policy.
See for example the article National security is too crude to protect us from pandemics: It’s time to shift to human security’ by PNND Council MemberJonathan Granoff and published in Newsweek. Also of interest could be To address the corona virus: Shift resources from nukes and the military to public health and the economypublished by Move the Nuclear Weapons Money, and the blog PNND and the Coronavirus.
“We are at war with the coronavirus. We need a massive wartime manufacturing mobilization for coronavirus testing kits and personal protective equipment for medical personnel. We need to activate our capable and talented domestic industry and bring the full power of the federal government to bear in responding to this viral enemy.”
PNND Co-President Senator Ed Markey. Letter to President Trump, March 15, 2020. See PNND and the Coronavirus.
Move the Nuclear Weapons Money published a blog, To address the corona virus: Shift resources from nukes and the military to public health and the economy, which explores these issues and the budget decisions which governments must make to address both the health and economic impacts of the corona virus pandemic.
On January 24, 1946, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted by consensus its very first resolution, Res 1 (I), which established a commission of the UN Security Council to ensure the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction. The ensuing Cold War dashed the early hopes of the commission implementing the resolution, as nuclear weapons became entrenched in the policies of the USA, Russia and the three other permanent members of the Security Council – China, France and the UK.However, the UN resolution remains valid as setting a core objective of the United Nations, and contributing to customary international law requiring the global abolition of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
Simple actions you can take to commemorate January 24:
On January 28, Move the Nuclear Weapons Money will testify at a New York City Council public hearing on draft resolution Resolution 976 which calls on New York City to divest its public pension funds from the nuclear weapons industry, and Initiative 1621 to reaffirm New York City as a nuclear weapons-free zone and establish an advisory committee to implement this status.
STOP PRESSES FROM 15th Jan:
2.2 17/1 Campaigners hit back at the inclusion of peace organisations in a counter-terrorism police document, as reported in the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/…/greenpeace-included-with-neo-…Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said:Why is CND listed in a police counter-terror list? We have over 60 years of peaceful protest to our credit and an open, democratic structure and policy process. We have no secrets and act in the public interest.‘It is nuclear bombs that terrorise people, not our campaign which works to eradicate weapons of mass destruction.
New paper: Youth Contributions to Peacebuilding in Yemen: “The situation needs us to be active”, written by Kate Nevens, Marwa Baabbad and Jatinder Padda for Saferworld. The paper draws on our experience of working with youth organisations and activists in Yemen over the past decade, and looks at the heavy toll the conflict is taking on youth activism, as well as the vital roles that youth continue to play in their communities across Yemen. Please find the paper attached and a link to the Saferworld page here.
The first meeting of 2020 will be on Tuesday 7th January 6pm in the Peace and Justice Centre, Epworth Halls
14/12: What the election means for CND: There is no doubt the extra Conservative MPs in England and Wales – and the loss of some anti-Trident Labour MPs – make a difficult parliamentary terrain for change in nuclear policy.
But the election results shouldn’t be interpreted as reflecting a growing enthusiasm for nuclear weapons. A recent article in The Times acknowledged that polling data showed falling support for Trident. Another poll commissioned during the election by the same newspaper asked whether the British prime minister should be willing to authorise the use of nuclear weapons. A minority said the PM should – 57% said they shouldn’t or they didn’t know.
During the general election, the Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson was heavily criticised for her glib ‘yes’ response to whether she would press the nuclear button. A CND video which highlighted her inappropriate reply was viewed over 1 million times and Swinson went on to lose her seat to a candidate from the anti-Trident Scottish National Party.
Scotland – an increased anti-nuclear majority
The SNP gained an extra 13 seats, bringing their total to 48 out of 59 Scottish constituencies. Party leader Nicola Sturgeon spoke very clearly and passionately against nuclear weapons throughout the election, which won her plaudits on social media and big rounds of applause in the leaders’ debates. SNP MPs will be a powerful voice for nuclear disarmament in Westminster.
The role of our movement
We thank everyone who lobbied the election candidates – we received hundreds of replies. The legacy of this work is the relationships we have forged with candidates who are now MPs – we will now invite them to campaign with us in Parliamentary CND. Quite a number of candidates who weren’t elected have become members of CND and plan to work with us from their localities.
Nevertheless, the Conservative majority in Westminster will leave many feeling pessimistic. Our movement has a crucial role to play in turning around the political situation on vital existential questions. We must give voice to the growing millions who oppose nuclear weapons. We must strengthen our links and solidarity with other campaigning organisations and movements who strive to build a better, just, more peaceful world.
Our vision of a world without nuclear weapons is needed now more than ever – as is our experience and commitment to change. Success will not come from waiting and hoping that the next election will deliver something better. It will come from our continuing work – and its intensification which we begin today – building together the kind of world the majority of humanity wants to see.
1. Our last organised event of 2019 will be on Saturday 14th December: 1230 Leafleting at the East End of Princes Street.Please join us.
CND asked each candidate two questions
See also Quercus Manifesto, section on Defence. Quercus Manifesto
UPDATE 11/12: CND’s #VoteOutNukes database gives a clear picture of what parties and candidates think about nuclear weapons, but what do the parties think about CND’s others campaigns?
We’ve reviewed the manifestos of the Conservatives, Greens, Labour, Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru and the SNP. We hope our review will help you decide which party to vote for on polling day.
CND review of the manifestos
—————————— 8.The next Peace and Justice Centre origami cranes workshop is on Saturday 14 December from 2pm – 4pm at the Peace & Justice Centre in the basement of the City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicholson Square EH8 9BX. Come along to learn how to make origami cranes, help us inch closer to our target of 140,000 cranes, and find out how else you can get involved. They are also looking for temporary storage space for the cranes, if anyone can help.The event is on Facebook here.
‘FLIGHT OF THE KURDS’ will be an entertaining and inspiring evening of musicians, poets and writers performing their work. The event is intended to raise funds for Kurdish refugees. We will be holding a raffle and making a collection for Heyva Sor, the beautifully named charity which aids Kurdish refugees.*And as always at the Scotia Bar, we will be providing free sandwiches. ———————– 12. Get some great presents and support our campaign against nukes by grabbing some official CND merchandise at cnduk.shop (also http://www.banthebomb.org) ——————– 13.Stop the Jeju 2nd airport(Air Force Base) Project. We are hoping to collect as many signatures as possible by midnight of Dec. 16th (Korean time). Please read the story at the end of this email. It is the story of a man whose home is in the middle of planned runway and who is currently fasting against the Jeju 2nd airport. Please sign (If you have not done so yet) and spread it to your networks. Beside the existing English language petition, Japanese and Chinese language petitions were also recently made. If you can, please spread them, too. (But please sign only one language petition per person.)
