Up and coming events:

1. Edinburgh CND monthly meeting Tuesday 2nd May 6pm in the Peace and Justice Centre
2. Saturday 6th May: Edinburgh CND will be at the annual May Day march and rally. Assemble 1130 for 12noon at Johnston Terrace and march behind our banner. Rally 1230 at Scottish Parliament with Edinburgh CNDs Penny Stone singing (and other speakers and singer). Peace stall. Followed by a social.
3. Thursday 11th May Edinburgh World Justice Festival ‘building’ meeting 7.30pm at Augustine Utd (see below)
3. Saturday 13th May: Leafleting 1230 East end of Princes Street
4. Wednesday 17th May: Special ECND meeting on the Global Ban talks (and the election!) 7.30pm at the Peace and Justice Centre.

NEWS:
++1. nuClear News No.95 May 2017 is now available for downloading here
http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/nuclearnews/NuClearNewsNo95.pdf

2. UK CND says http://www.cnduk.org: The General Election, taking place on Thursday 8 June, comes less than a year after MPs voted to support government plans to spend £205 billion replacing Trident. The government also remains committed to building new nuclear power stations despite concerns about safety, feasibility and soaring costs. The United Nations is expected to finalise a nuclear weapons ban treaty in July, with the support of the overwhelming majority of the international community. Despite successive governments claiming to support multilateral disarmament, Boris Johnson boycotted the talks. The treaty comes as prospects of a nuclear confrontation between the US and North Korea are rapidly increasing. In this turbulent context, it’s vital that Britain leads on nuclear disarmament and the de-escalation of conflict. To support this effort, we can use the General Election to elect more anti-nuclear MPs.
CND will be contacting candidates to find out their positions on three issues ahead of the election.
The UK signing the UN nuclear ban treaty
The replacement of Trident
The construction of new nuclear power station
Kate Hudson added following news items about Jeremy Corbyn and Michael Fallon: “The goal of Britain’s foreign policy must be to build a secure and peaceful future for Britain and every new government reviews the best way of working towards that goal. Given the enormous costs and risks associated with Trident, Britain’s nuclear weapons system, it’s absolutely right that it would be part of that review.
“A commitment to review Trident was part of Labour’s policy at the 2015 general election and should be part of Labour’s 2017 manifesto too. Regular review is just common sense not controversial. What is controversial is the Defence Secretary’s comments today that he is prepared to start a nuclear war with a first strike.
“Britain’s first strike policy is actually determined by NATO. It’s outrageous that our nuclear policy is set by an external body. British sovereignty needs to be re-established in the sphere of defence policy as a matter of urgency so it can be brought back within the bounds of international law.”
Further info:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-nuclear-weapons-first-strike-michael-fallon-general-election-jeremy-corbyn-trident-a7698621.html
Labour repeats backing for Trident after Jeremy Corbyn casts doubt on it
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/23/jeremy-corbyn-casts-doubt-labour-support-trident-nuclear-deterrent-manifesto
Also video of Jeremy Corbyn available
There is some discussion about all this: watch this space!

We hope to add the views of Scottish CND shortly: see http://www.banthebomb.org Minutes of the last executive are available.

3. The Scottish Ban Treaty Working Group is working up to the June/July talks and the Scottish Ban Treaty website will be coming on line very soon.
3.1.ALL WELCOME TO:
Next Working Group meeting 27th April 10am in SCND offices
The Campaigners briefing on 18th May in Glasgow SCND office, 7pm
Ban Treaty at Edinburgh CND meeting on the 17th May P&J, 7.30pm
London meeting for all ICAN UK, including Scotland, 1.00pm at SOAS 22nd May (see below for more details of this: it is open to CND members.) Meetings of last meeting are available on request
3.2. Highlighting the work in Scotland. There are small cards for the pocket and new leaflets are in preparation. Good videos on Facebook.
The Scottish New York Team: SCND are directly funding staff member, Flavia, to attend. VC Janet is funded primarily through through NFPB although she will represent Scottish CND. and there may be reps from CAAT and MEDACT. and are happy to be part of the Scottish Team here or there. Janet and Gari (UN House) will select a young academic delegate (please e-mail for more details). Aberdeen CND will identify an experienced north-of-the-central belt grass-roots campaigner. If funding allows, another team member will be added and Scottish elected representatives from Holyrood and Westminster are encouraged to be there. The group is working closely with CND and others in ICANUK
A special Scottish Ban Treaty Support Fund (for materials and delegate costs) has been set up to which contributions can be made.
3.3. Renowned writer and artist Alasdair Gray has kindly donated one of his signed framed prints to help raise funds at the Nuke Banboree event organised in St Peters Church Hall, (Partick, Glasgow), on Sat 29 April, 4 – 8 pm.
Raffle tickets can be bought at the event or online. You can order or buy tickets to be added to the raffle even if you cannot make the event. We’re happy to post the prize.
3.4.All CND and other peace groups groups are urged to participate in a Global Day of Action in support of the Global Nuclear Ban. A rally and march has been arranged in New York on Saturday, June 17th and there will be one in Scotland the same day.
3.5. On 22 May there will be a planning meeting for ICAN UK partners and other organisations in the UK that support the nuclear weapons ban treaty, to:
– Discuss the international state of play with the ban treaty (the NPT Preparatory Committee meeting will be over, and the draft treaty text may or may not be out at this point)
– Discuss strategic issues in the UK in relation to the ban, and
– Work out a plan of outreach and activities in the UK up to the end of the next session of the negotiations (which run 15 June – 7 July) and immediately after the conference ends. The sudden election of course offers some complications but also opportunities for us!

PLEASE SEE END OF POST FOR MORE READING! NB Ireland have had a very instrumental role in building the talks.

4.Edinburgh World Justice Festival had a successful application to Awards for All this has enabled them to let a contract for the role of Festival Co-ordinator, on a freelance basis. (See previous news item) And please note
The dates of the festival are 30 September – 15 October.
A meeting to get more people involved on the Steering Group will be held on +++++Thursday 11 May at Augustine Church -Help plan the 2017 Edinburgh World Justice Festival, come to a meeting where you can contribute your ideas and get involved: Date: Thursday 11 May Time: 7.30pm-9pm
Place: Augustine United Church (Mull room), 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EL Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/ events/1484424191609452/

5. +++++ Abolition 2000 Annual Meeting 8:30am – 5pm. Monday May 1, 2017
Donau City Church, Vienna Join nuclear disarmament activists from around the world at the Abolition 2000 Annual Meeting to share campaign reports, discuss nuclear disarmament strategy, explore opportunities for action and plan further campaigns. Click here for the agenda. For other background documents, visit Abolition 2000 Annual Meeting. ALSO #3DnukeMissile & Rally: 2pm-4pm, Sunday April 30 Graben 21, Ecke Kohlmarkt followed by dinner. AND NPT Side Events: May 2-12 Vienna International Centre (UN)info@baselpeaceoffice.org

6. Chernobyl Anniversary:The 26th April marked the 31th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster. The world’s most serious nuclear disaster led to thousands of deaths, destroyed communities, and caused far reaching environmental damage. An upcoming London conference http://www.cn duk.org will explore how to prevent another Chernobyl disaster. The conference will argue there is no need for nuclear power; the latest developments in renewable technology can now supply the energy we need in a safe, healthy and sustainable manner. ++++++++++No need for nuclear: the renewables are here Saturday 17 June 2017 10.15 to 5pm Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL Conference web site cnduk.org/NoNeedForNuclear

7. Because of the General Election, the closing date for petitions has changed. All petitions now have to close at 00:01am on 3 May. Petition will be available for people to read on the site even though it will be closed for signatures. Petitions can’t be reopened after the election. A new petition can be started signatures can’t be transferred. See earlier posts for petitions affected. Add your signature before the date!

OTHER EVENTS:
ADDED:
++++0.1 Palestinian Activist Iyad Burnat: Practising Non-Violence Thursday 4 May 7:45pm Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace Edinburgh
++++0.2 Migrant Crisis conversations &Through Refugee Eyes photos
Thursday 4 May 7 – 8:15pm. Top floor, Beehive Pub, Grassmarket, Edinburgh
++++0.3 Frances Mildmay from the United Nations Association had passed away . Frances will be known in a number of networks.Funeral is on Friday May 5 at 230pm in Glasgow Crematorium at 19 Chester Road Maryhill Glasgow G2
++++0.4 This a link to a free showing off free showing of a film – We are the many on Wed May 3 at 7pm in CCA Glasgow.Please feel free to pass round
http://www.cca-glasgow.com/ programme/stop-the-war- coalition-glasgow-we-are-many
ORIGINAL:
1. 140,000 Origami Cranes Workshop: Remembering Hiroshima 2 – 4pm. Saturdays at Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre 5 Upper Bow, Edinburgh EH1 2JN NB Origami Cranes Project Volunteer & Saturday Volunteer needed.
2. Faith, Politics and Peace in the Age of President Trump Thursday 27th April, 7-9.15pm Annandale Street Mosque
3. Legacies of Resistance to the First World War Workers Education Association Adult Education Classes Starting Edinburgh: South Bridge Resource Centre, Infirmary Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LT. Starting Wednesday 10th May for eight weeks. 12.30pm – 2.30pm.
4. Conscientious Objectors Day Vigil 5 – 6pm. Monday 15 May The Mound, by the National Gallery of Scotland

Some more reading (thanks to Rebecca Johnson and Trident Ploughshares)
The David Lowry (ICAN) list started last time is suspended, but updates on request.

As the US and North Korea rattle sabres and the UK reels from the sudden decision to have a snap General Election, I wanted to draw your attention to these two recent articles on the Nuclear Ban Treaty negotiations published by openDemocracy, with links:
on 10 April: https://www.opendemocracy. net/rebecca-johnson/uk-trump- un-nuclear-disarmament-talks
and on 19 April:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/ 5050/rebecca-johnson/un-talks- nuclear-weapons-what-can-they- achieve
See also this link to the Emergency Resolution on the Nuclear Ban Treaty which was passed unanimously by the Global Greens Congress on 2 April, after being proposed by Austrian MEP Ulrike Lunacek, Vice President of the European Parliament: https://www.globalgreens.org/ congress-documents/emergency- resolution-1-un-legally- binding-international-nuclear- weapons-ban
You might also be interested in this short 3 minute video on FB with different UK voices at the recent Nuclear Ban Treaty negotiations, produced by Clare Conboy:
https://www.facebook.com/ 443437662404428/videos/vb. 443437662404428/ 1333172916764227/?type=2& theater&notif_t=like&notif_id= 1492604678135161
Lots more materials available from ICAN http://www.icanw.org/
and considerable background documentation and analysis from relevant disarmament and security fora, as well as available statements and documents from the first week of NBT negotiations (March 27-31, 2017) from Reaching Critical Will http://www. reachingcriticalwill.org/ disarmament-fora/nuclear- weapon-ban
For anyone wanting to read contemporaneous articles on how the nuclear ban treaty process developed in parallel with NPT and UN meetings, these are listed on openDemocracy from the present going back as far as April 2010: https://www. opendemocracy.net/author/ rebecca-johnson

Please note this months May Day meeting is on the 17th (one week early).
As part of GDCOMS on Saturday 22nd Edinburgh CND, Scrap Trident and other groups will be undertaking actions in Edinburgh including leafleting the March for Science and Pedal on Parliament. There will also be leafleting in the city centre, including at the East end of Princes Street. We will be assembling 12 noon at the East End of Princes Street.
More information below.

THE UN START BANNING NUCLEAR WEAPONS
By the last day of the first session of the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty discussions in New York, there was an exuberant excitement in the room at the enormous significance of what is under way.
132 UN Member states participated in this meeting to agree the elements for a nuclear weapons ban treaty. This important treaty is a real step towards general and complete disarmament, leading to peace, security, and human rights, so it is not an end itself, but a tool.
When the nine states that possess nuclear weapons exhibited no good faith commitment to nuclear disarmament and chose to boycott the conference, their absence did not have the effect they had intended but allowed thoughtful deliberation and exchanges, and a useful example of how the United Nations can operate in terms of open, fluid conversation amongst states, international organisations, academics, and non-governmental organisations. This was particularly helpful around the discussions of positive obligations that states would commit to, such as ensuring the rights of victims and survivors of nuclear weapons activities, and identifying actions to address damage to affected environments and providing for international cooperation and assistance to meet the obligations of the treaty.
Member states showed their concerns that the devastating effect of nuclear weapons can never be contained by national borders or their governments and they listened respectfully to survivors describing the awful reality of nuclear weapons and tests, and the expert advice from organisations like the International Red Cross and Red Crescent.
All of the key points that ICAN hoped the states would raise were discussed and hopefully will be incorporated into the draft treaty that the chair will now compile for further discussions in the second session , which takes place from the 17th of June till the beginning of July.
Ensuring that the information is available for the diplomats, encouraging them to work together in groups to resist the financial pressure and threatened removal of military supprt by the nuclear weapons states, organising or participating in the many side events to help people to be well informed, and keeping track of who is there who is speaking and what they are saying is a lot of work, and we need to ensure that civil society and parliamentarians who support the treaty are there, speaking out. Lots of people are pinning hopes on Scotland succeeding in disarming the UK, and it is essential that we share this news here – the mainstream media are not listening in the UK.
Already, the conference is starting to change the norm and stigmatise and delegitimise nuclear weapons in the eyes of the world.
Thanks for the info on the talks to:
https://reachingcriticalwill.org
http://thebulletin.org/blog
http://www.icanw.org/
https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/towards-nuclear-non-proliferation
https://www.opendemocracy.net/rebecca-johnson/uk-trump-un-nuclear-disarmament-talks
wordsandactions.scot

There is a Scottish Working Group which has open meetings in Glasgow contact SCND http://www.banthebomb.org for details.
The last Working Group meeting decided to write a ‘brief’ on the Nuclear Treaty Ban. A folded A4 leaflet has been proposed which would serve several purposes, the actual briefing as a series of questions and and is constructed of eight ‘boxes’ which can easily convert to PowerPoint if necessay, the same ‘boxes’ can also easily be sent out on social media such as Twitter and Facebook. As it stands it can of-course also be given out as a leaflet which is eye-catching and presents the arguments as a series of easily absorbed main points.

Also see below for a Scottish fundraiser. http://www.banthebomb.org and meeting on 17th May. Other fundraisers are happening and planned.

The April 2017 edition of CND’s Campaign magazine is out. CND was present at the UN last month to witness the historical negotiations on a nuclear weapons ban treaty. Despite the UK government boycotting the talks in March, there is still a chance to participate at the next session. It is more important than ever to increase the pressure on the government. If you haven’t already, please write to the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and your local MP, expressing how important it is to attend the final round of talks.
The also attended the Liberal Democrats’ Spring Conference to hear the party discussing their policy on Trident. Read about what happened in this month’s magazine, as well as an update on Britain’s disastrous attempt to build more nuclear power stations. http://www.cnduk.org/cnd-media/campaign-magazine
For yet more on the talks see:
http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/ has some interesting material
http://theconversation.com/why-efforts-to-secure-a-deal-on-banning-all-nuclear-weapons-are-so-important-75484?utm_content=buffer45dc0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

EVENTS:

1. April 18-28 are the Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS). Civil society organisations around the world will take action to reduce military spending in order to help fund social and environmental needs, including the Sustainable Development Goals.
Internationally, UNFOLD ZERO is partnering with GDAMS to ‘Move the Nuclear Weapons Money’. We encourage you to take action in your community to highlight the $100 billion global nuclear weapons budget, and ‘move the nuclear weapons money’ to better purposes.

1.1 On Saturday 22nd Edinburgh CND, Scrap Trident and other groups will be undertaking actions in Edinburgh including leafleting the March for Science and Pedal on Parliament. There will also be leafleting in the city centre, including at the East end of Princes Street. Watch this space for more details.
1.2 From Scotland with Shame: Demonstrate to call for an end to Arms Exports from Scotland Scottish Parliament.
The EP&JC is joining CAAT Edinburgh on this Day of Action outside the Scottish Parliament. All invited to come along for all or part of the time.
++++1.3 Global Campaign on Military Spending (GCOMS)#FromScotlandWithShame
12-2pm, Wednesday 19 April, outside Scottish Parliament
https://www.facebook.com/ events/100896443796519/
There will be a pre-meeting from 11.30am – to allow us to collate all our materials, banners, props, assign a few tasks and even possibly do a bit of dressing up! Serenity Café Space
The UK has been supplying the Saudi-led coalition with Paveway IV missiles produced by arms manufacturer Raytheon at its factory in Glenrothes. These Scottish-made “smart-bombs” are being used in coalition attacks on Yemeni civilians that violate international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes. The same Raytheon bombs have also been used previously by Israel during assaults on Gaza (there will be an Edinburgh event on 16th)
1.3 CAAT Creative Campaigning Workshop Quaker Meeting House
Sat 15 April. 10:30am – 3pm. Anyone wanting to hone their creative campaigning skills ahead of the Day of Action and plot strategy for ending arms exports from Scotland is invited. To express interest email Mark Bitel at: eventscaatedin@gmail.com
1.4 The next quarterly CAAT meeting will be on 14th June 2017 from 7-8.45pm. Previous minutes available

2. Actions around the Global Ban (see above)
2.1. Local Edinburgh meeting with report from Janet Fenton Wednesday 17th May 7.30pm at the Peace and Justice Centre.

2.2 Fundraiser event for the whole family on Sat 29 April, 4 – 8 pm in St Peter’s Church Hall, 46 Hyndland Street, Glasgow, G11 5 PS (Chancellor St entrance)
Music & special guests including actor David Anderson
Circus workshops & performance by Ringmaster Parties (plate spinning, hula hoops, juggling, pedal go’s & much more) Short drama Games for all ages
Refreshments & food available Raffle
The money raised will help send delegates to negotiations on a Global Ban Nuclear Weapons Treaty which will take place in June/July this year in New York. Most countries in the world are supporting the proposed treaty – and if the talks in New York are completed successfully this will be a major breakthrough in getting rid of nuclear weapons from our world.
This will be a fantastic day for all ages so please come along and bring your children or grandchildren. Tickets: £5 waged, £3 unwaged Free for under 12s & asylum seekers £10 supporter ticket Book your ticket online at the link below or phone/text Arthur West on 07826127759.

2.3 On the same day: Glasgow Launch event for Scotland against militarism campaign 29th April 13:00 Quaker Meeting House Glasgow https://scotlandagainstmilitarism.com/

+++++3. http://cnduk.org/cnd-media/item/2722-will-there-be-a-nuclear-war
Wednesday, 19th April 2017. 5.30pm to 7pm US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London
Nuclear war has never been so possible and never so probable.

4. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference, Vienna May 2-12
States parties to the NPT, plus registered non-governmental organisations, will be meeting at Vienna International Centre (the United Nations) from May 2-12 in the First Preparatory Committee Meeting for the 2020 NPT Review Conference.

5. Challenging Military Recruitment of Youth Saturday 27 May. 11am – 1pm.
LG 09, David Hume Tower, George Square, Edinburgh
All invited to arrive early (10:30am) for a cup of tea and networking time.
Two short Films, Speakers and Discussion Screening “Engage” Forces Watch film about Cadets in schools and Woodcraft Folk campaign against it.
Screening Quaker film “The Unseen March” that outlines the UK governments concerted campaign to improve its image – from Armed Forces Day events annually to the expansion of the Cadets programmes.

5.1 Saturday 17th June will see Women marching Worldwide to Ban the Bomb.
http://www.womenbanthebomb.org This is part of a Global Day of Action in support of the Global Nuclear Ban, which CND groups are supporting. A rally and march has been arranged in New York on Saturday, June 17th.
5.2 There is a national conference in London (also on Saturday, June 17th) to discuss how renewable energy can and should replace nuclear energy production. Experts say renewable energy is safer, healthier, more sustainable, quicker and cheaper

6. This month’s Edinburgh CND trip to Faslane was on Wednesday 5th April.
2 members with a carload of stuff that had been collected and a load of food bought as a donation. Had a good chat with the campers and a look around, then went along, with one of them to the vigil at the North gate. Spent an hour there with a saltire and CND synbol, got lots of waves from cars.
The campers are in court today (Thursday) about their recent action and we send them a message of support.
The Wednesday weekly vigil from 4pm outside the Faslane Trident base – North Gate, Faslane – organised by Helensburgh CND, Faslane Peace Camp and Trident Ploughshares

+++7.Cooperative Games & Conflict Resolution Skills for Schools Facilitator Training: Saturday 22 April. 9am – 1pm. Central Edinburgh Venue peaceandjustice.org.uk

8. Next meeting of Scottish Peace Network:Tuesday 30th May at 6 pm in the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre.Minutes of last meeting available. ++++At present they are preparing a new leaflet about Syria for use at their next vigil Thursday, April 27, at 5pm at Dewar’s statue on Buchanan Street. Previous minutes available.https://www.facebook.com/events/1342951059129022/

9. In Australia: This years Walkatjurra Dates are now set for the 4th of August leaving Fremantle and returning on the 3rd of September. They are hoping for a really good turn out this year ad hopefully it will be a celebration of a Ban on uranium mining.

10. Pugwash meetings (London):
25th April – ‘What underlies North Korea’s drive to acquire nuclear weapons?’ – A talk by John Everand, former diplomat – UCL – More info here – Facebook here
27th April – ‘Global Climate Finance: Securing a low carbon future’ – Seminar with Federico Mazza from Climate Policy Initiative

0. Next Edinburgh Stop the War Meeting, Monday 17th April
We are meeting at 7.30pm at the Peace and Justice Centre, 5 Upper Bow, EH1 2JN
There’ll be a general discussion about current events. The escalation of the bombing in the Middle East is leading to thousands of civilian casualties and a dangerous military stand-off is developing between Russia and the West. Trump is also escalating tensions in the Asia Pacific and on the Korean peninsula, including through the deployment of warships to Korean waters. We’ll be planning for activities over the next few weeks – if you haven’t been to one of these meetings before you will be very welcome.

JOBS:
1. The EP&JC invites applications for the post of part time Administrator,
15-16 hours per week negotiable.Salary: £18,940 to £21,220 / year pro rata (£10.38 / hour) Job Purpose To provide support and assistance to the Coordinator – ensuring all the day-to-day aspects of running the Centre work smoothly – from membership records to event management to recording financial transactions of the charity.
++++2. (new) EDINBURGH WORLD JUSTICE FESTIVAL 2017
FESTIVAL CO-ORDINATOR Play a central role in the world’s only world justice festival! Freelance contract, June – October 2017 – £6,000
The Festival Co-ordinator will work with the Steering Group to organise the EWJF 2017 programme, taking responsibility for planning the festival, compiling the programme, overssing promotion and supporting delivery of the festival. The festival has been run until noe entirely by volunteers; we now wish to expand its reach and impact.

A PETITION: a better way to use government funding? https://petition.parliament.uk /petitions/195077
N.B. The petition to appoint a minister for peace and disarmament only made489 signatures BUT THERE IS TIME TO ADD YOURS!

RECENT NEWS ITEMS (updated often)
Please email edinburghcnd@yahoo.com

Click to access assuring-destruction-forever-2017.pdf

http://drdavidlowry.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/labours-big-nuclear-disarmament.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/21/the-pressing-need-for-nuclear-disarmament
http://mynorthwest.com/605931/the-dangers-of-impatience/
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2017-03-22/vision-trump-war
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4430060/Risk-accidental-nuclear-war-higher-ever.html)
http://thediplomat.com/2017/04/the-nuclear-test-ban-time-to-finish-what-we-started/

More than 100 states gathered at the United Nations in New York last week to begin negotiations on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. These historic talks represent a chance to make real progress towards a world without nuclear weapons. Sadly, before the talks had even started, the UK lined up behind Donald Trump’s representative to denounce the talks. While the international community discussed how to rid the world of nuclear weapons, the UK opted for platitudes over participation.
A range of issues were discussed during the week, ranging from what should be included in the treaty to how it would be enforced. You can read CND’s daily reports from the conference on our website.
CND hosted a side event which was addressed by Fabian Hamilton MP, Shadow Minister for Peace and Disarmament. Dave Webb, CND Chair, has posted a report of the event in New York.
There was broad consensus that a ban treaty is needed and that it must be comprehensive. It is likely that a draft treaty will be published ahead of the second round of talks, which are due to start in June.
CND is continuing to push for the UK government to attend the next round of talks. You can join the campaign today by writing to your MP. (Posters available for £1) http://www.cnduk.org/

‘Unfold Zero” pointed out that One of the issues discussed was the proposal by UNFOLD ZERO and Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (PNND) that the treaty prohibit any financing of nuclear weapons production.
It is said that ‘money makes the world go around’. With respect to nuclear weapons, the corporations manufacturing them are highly influential on nuclear weapons policy. Most of the global nuclear weapons budget of $100 billion goes to about a dozen powerful corporations who spend lavish amounts of money lobbying to keep the nuclear arms race going.
If the nuclear prohibition treaty includes a ban on investing in these corporations, it could put a big dent in their lobbying power, and give support to legislators and civil society in nuclear-armed States who are trying to cut nuclear weapons budgets.
Statements and working papers to the conference can be accessed on the UN conference website.

There is a Global Ban Working Group in Scotland, which welcome members. See Actions for meetings and end of this post for minutes

More info on the talks from:
https://reachingcriticalwill.org
http://thebulletin.org/blog
http://www.icanw.org/
janetsabeatnik@wordpress.com
The Nuclear Ban Isn’t the End, but It’s a Good Beginning http://www.alternet.org/environment/nuclear-ban-isnt-end-its-good-beginning

Actions:
1. Join Edinburgh CND to leaflet about the Global Ban. Saturday 8th April 1230 at the East End of Princes Street.
2. Join the Global Ban Working Group set up by SCND. Next meeting 10th April at the SCND offices in Glasgow. Minutes of meeting on 3rd April are available. http://banthebomb.org/
3. Scrap Trident Campaign meets 5th April 6pm in the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre
4. Scottish wilpf meets Monday 10th April 6.15pm at the Edinburgh Engender Offices
++++5. Edinburgh CAAT meeting on Wednesday 12th April 2017, 7-8.45pm, at Quakers Meeting House (7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh EH1 2JL)
6. Edinburgh Stop the War meets Monday 17th April 7.30pm in the Peace and justice Centre
7. The next meeting of the Peace Network will take place at 2pm on Tuesday, April 11, a the electron club which is on the first floor of the Centre Contemporary Arts on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow City Centre,
++++++8. Nuke Banboree Fundraiser event for the whole family on Sat 29 April, 4 – 8 pm in St Peter’s Church Hall, 46 Hyndland Street, Glasgow, G11 5 PS (Chancellor St entrance)

++++++PLEASE HELP no2nuclear power by donating what you can. You can send cheques, made payable to “no2nuclearpower”, to Pete Roche c/o Friends of the Earth Scotland, Thorn House, 5 Rose Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PR. If you want to donate via internet banking send to No 2 Nuclear Power, Co-op Bank 08-92-99 a/c No. 65162637.
Or you can donate by PayPal. For details see here:
http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/donations/
Latest News at: http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/nuclearnews/NuClearNewsNo94.pdf

+++++++Latest Peace and Justice newsletter http://peaceandjustice.org.uk

In the longer term:
1. There is a Women’s March to Ban the Bomb in New York on June 17th (which is the same day as the Stirling Military Parade & show where Scottish Peace Network plans to protest). There will be solidarity activities happen in Scotland https://www.womenbanthebomb.org/
2. The Disarmament Camp at Coulport 8-16th July is being organised by Trident Ploughshares. More info here.
http://tridentploughshares.org/coulport-disarmament-camp-july-2017/
We will of course be hoping that Faslane Peace Campers can join us and be working together.
++++3.Conference: No need for nuclear: the renewables are here
Saturday, 17th June 2017. 10.15am to 5pm Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL The government is obsessed with backing nuclear. Experts say renewable energy is safer, healthier, more sustainable, quicker and cheaper.http://www.cnduk.org/

And a TV programme: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/on-demand/66214-001 President Trump: How Scared Should We Be? plus
http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/HnvvhGqGAEGmKMZTqy8W/full

And in Australia they continue:For the latest news: https://walkingforcountryet

STOP PRESS: Some reading: The secret of the Soviet hydrogen bomb http://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/PT.3.3524#.WOS2INIJ92w.
Terrorism & CounterterrorismWMD & Proliferation
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2017-04-04/dirty-bomb-threat
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Minutes of Global Ban Working Group:
Feedback from the UN Janet gave a short account of the March session of the negotiations, recognising that a fuller briefing for campaigners will be necessary. These had been very successful both in content and process. There were three elements:  the goals, objectives, and preamble of the treaty;  the details of what actions will be included in a prohibition, such as the possession, development, testing, and use of nuclear weapons and assisting other countries with them,  what actions will be required of parties; and legalities for such things as accession to the treaty, regular review conferences, and questions about the accession of nuclear-armed states.The elements for a valid treaty had all been noted to be included in the draft. The President – Elayne Whyte Gómezfrom Costa Rica – led a very open ethos and a process that included an innovative and interactive panel session with civil society representatives. Janet had also been with a group that met with the disarmament officer of the UK permanent mission to the UN. WE can promote account of proceedingsthat is on Janets blog as a ‘Scottish’ perspective in addition to ican, rcw blogs.Planning for second sessionIn this context we will need a good team from Scotland for the summer session. We will seek SCND EXEC approval for aspecific SCND funding appeal for up to £5,000 for the venture and raise discussion about staff members’ participation and travel arrangements.Preparatory to inviting MSPs/MPs to travel to the summer sessions we will work on raising general awareness and engagement, and discuss with ICAN international timing of any Parliammentarians side event(s) The Holyrood Cross Party Group will be an important context, as will Greens and Yes groups. In terms of media we should try for articles in the National and perhaps a follow-up to the Herald Agenda piece. Above all it needs to be on the Scotref agenda, due to the fact that Scotland’s distinctive stance within the UK and the upcoming treaty will play helpfully together. We can perhaps access the Yes Registry and SIC.Resources and tasks Petition/Vision Statement. We will develop a very brief sign -up statement for stalls etc. David to draft. This will be time limited. We will plan a briefing event for campaigners – for a group of around 25. Ellen will write a short, factual briefing, adapted from Jane Tallents’ Edinburgh street briefing (as revised)  For further discussion: a more developed briefing for parliamentarians and media. Janet will update text for our general briefing leaflet, Flavia to liaise with John on layout New website .scot is under construction by Flavia with input from Janet, DavidEvent: Nuke Banboree – 29th April, 4.00pm – 8.00pmSt Peter’s in Partick

Edinburgh CND will be meeting on Tuesday 4th April 6pm in the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre to discuss our future activities including around the Ban talks. We will also be leafleting on Saturday 8th April 1230 East End of Princes Street

Support the Nuclear Ban Treaty gathering Saturday 1st April at 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2, United Kingdom
Here are some interesting updates:
1.A CASE FOR A NUCLEAR WEAPONS BAN
Clara Levin | Svenska Läkare mot Kärnvapen (Swedish Physicians against Nuclear Weapons)

Click to access NBD1.4.pdf

2.Kate Hudson’s piece on the ban talks and the Abolition 2000 poll in the Huff Post 75% Think UK Should Attend Nuclear Disarmament Talks At UN – So Why The Boycott? http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-kate-hudson/nuclear disarmament_b_15633172.html
3. United States and Allies Protest U.N. Talks to Ban Nuclear Weapons By SOMINI SENGUPTA and RICK GLADSTONE New York Times, MARCH 28, 2017
4.At the multilateral conference negotiating a Global Nuclear Weapons Ban treaty, which started at the United Nations in New York on Monday this week, the diplomatically progressive EU-State, Sweden, called for a reference to the “gendered impact” of nuclear weapons to be incorporated in the preamble of the treaty.
(http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/nuclear-weapon-ban/statements/28March_Sweden-T1.pdf}
In the words of Sweden’s Disarmament Ambassador, Eva Walder :
“Furthermore, we would like to see that the treaty recognizes the gender aspects of nuclear issues. We would also like to see references to the ever present danger of use of nuclear weapons by mistake. And finally, there should be references to the enormous waste of resources resulting from the production and modernization of nuclear weapons.”
This concern was raised by the American campaigner and researcher, Mary Olsen*, in an invited presentation she made to a big planning conference , hosted by the fellow diplomatically progressive EU state, Austria, in Vienna, in December 2014.
(https://www.bmeia.gv.at/fileadmin/user_upload/Zentrale/Aussenpolitik/Abruestung/HINW14/Presentations/HINW14_S1_Presentation_Mary_Olson.pdf).
5. plus on 31st: The UN’s Nuclear Weapon Talks May Be The Most Important Thing Nobody’s Paying Attention To
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/united-nations-nuclear-weapons_us_58dbcbe3e4b0cb23e65d5237
Top commander says banning nukes would make wars worse
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/john-hyten-nuclear-weapons-ban-united-nations-236751
and don’t forget:

Nuclear Ban Daily, Vol. 1, No. 5 now available
http://thebulletin.org/blog

There is planned for Scotland a Uranium Film Festival in 2017 and/or 2018, showing documentaries and movies about the risks of nuclaer power and nuclear weapons as we did already in several countries and cities. More details later

Original Post:

Today (27th) is an important day for the anti-nuclear movement. The following words offer a summary. There are many links to follow for more information.

The international community is gathering in New York for the start of negotiations on a nuclear weapons ban treaty. There is widespread support for the treaty, despite the UK and other nuclear weapons states continuing the boycott the talks. A recent poll found 75% of British public want our government to take part.
More than 120 countries supported the idea of a treaty when a vote took place last year, and since that time ideas for what the treaty might contain have been discussed. This week is just the first session of talks covering the process and general principles of the ban. Sessions run from 15:00 – 18:00 and 20:00 – 23:00 each day. You can keep up with the latest from the negotiations on CND social media and through daily updates on Kate Hudson’s blog
The details will be discussed at the next session, due to run from 14 June – 7 July. It is possible that a draft treaty may be published ahead of those talks.
CND is working with MPs and other allies to put maximum pressure on the UK government to attend the next round of talks. http://www.cnduk.org/ Last Saturday there was a page advert in the Guardian alerting the public to the UK position
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?
“In July last year, when the government asked MPs to back the £205 billion plan to replace our own nuclear weapons system, the motion stated they would press ‘for key steps towards multilateral disarmament’. It’s now clear this was entirely false.

In December 2016, the UN General Assembly decided – by a vote of 113 in favour, 35 against and 13 abstaining – to commence negotiations on a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons, regardless of whether or not the nuclear-armed and allied states join such a treaty. UNFOLD ZERO launched a series of consultation meetings see http://www.pnnd.org/event/consultation-meetings-un-initiatives-and-parliamentary-action for details of the meetings and other useful information

The International Campaign against Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has also been working hard around the Nuclear Ban and recently sent a letter to Boris Johnson, signed by many organisations (including Edinburgh CND) and individuals urging the UK government to take part in the http://uk.icanw.org/campaign-news/uk-ngos-government-is-on-wrong-side-of-history-boycotting-ban-negotiations/. ICAN issued a press release this morning and pointed out that The US ambassador will be making a statement to the press outside the conference room when the negotiations on the ban treaty start- at 10am New York time / 3pm in the UK – with UK expected to stand with them (though this is not confirmed). ICAN’s message is that this is a distraction, weak, and disrespectful to the process especially given that these states have been invited in – we will send round further messaging for the UK around this list if the UK does join this ‘protest’. ICANs new Ban Brief http://thebulletin.org/blog offers regular updates on the ban negotiations, their background, and their implications. It is written by Tim Wright, Asia-Pacific director of the http://www.icanw.org/ and Ray Acheson, director of Reaching Critical Will http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org%2Fabout-us%2Fwho-we-are
++++++BRITAIN was condemned for “boycotting” groundbreaking United Nations talks to ban nuclear weapons worldwide.

The Los Alamos Study Group can also be recommended for updates: http://www.lasg.org/press/2017/press_release_27Mar2017.html
ALSO:
OpenDemocracy has just published an article about the UN negotiations. Find this and more here: https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/towards-nuclear-non-proliferation
Dr Philip Webber, SGR, outlines the key scientific and technological information on the threat from these weapons of mass destruction.Nuclear weapons: a beginner’s guide to the threats | Promoting ethical science, design and technology
Five UK Churches have issued a statement to support and encourage those meeting in New York to negotiate a treaty banning nuclear weapons. They have also expressed their shared disappointment that the UK Government has refused to take part in these talks, despite its longstanding international commitments to work towards a nuclear weapon free world. http://www.jointpublicissues.org.uk/
++++ The UK has quietly revoked the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ over issues relating to nuclear weapons, making direct reference to the Marshall Islands case.

The German Peace Mouvement is starting a campaign of 50 groupes and organizations against the 20 US nuclear bombs still deployed in Germany (air force base in Büchel.) Messages of support appreciated and all are invited to take part of the International Action Camp Germany in July.

Two survivors of the US atomic bomb attack on the Japanese city of Hiroshima will visit Scotland as the critical UN negotiations for a nuclear ban treaty enter their third day.

Reiko Yamada and Midori Yamada will visit Scotland next week as part of the Hibakusha 2017 tour. The tour is timed to coincide with the start of the United Nations negotiations on putting a Global Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty in place. These important talks take place after a historic vote in favour of a treaty at the United Nations General Assembly by 123 countries at the end of last year.
These two women were direct witnesses to the horrific consequences of nuclear weapons and their visit to Scotland is very welcome.
Wed 29th of March The survivors will meet Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and have a tour of the Scottish Parliament.
++++++They will also visit the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre (contact them for details)
Thu 30th of March They will travel to Faslane and Coulport to observe the nuclear bases and will visit Faslane Peace Camp. Members and supporters can join them at the Peace Camp at 3 pm for some tea at the cherry tree planted by a previous Hibakusha visitor thirty years ago.

Scottish CND http://banthebomb.org is sponsoring working group on the Ban Treaty
It is an open group and anyone can join. They are working on web section dedicated to the ban where you will find updates, events, resources and news, particularly relevant to Scotland. They hope to launch this next week.
Next meeting of the working group is 3rd April 11am
++++++On Tuesday SCND issued a statement: see their website or Facebook

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 posts more details)

Other News:
1.Still open: Petition 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
2.Creative Training Day Campaigning against Arms trade in Scotland
Saturday, 15 April . Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh.
CAAT training with external facilitators to explore creative campaigning and develop strategy for campaigning against the arms trade in Scotland. Free and open to activists from across Scotland, regardless of organisational affiliation or none, that wish to take part in a variety of actions in locations across Scotland.Spaces are limited to 20. To register interest,or for more information, email Mark at eventscaatedin@gmail.com
3. From Scotland with Shame Wednesday 19 April Outside Scottish ParliamentRaising the profile of the arms made in Scotland currently being used against Yemen by Saudi Arabia. To Register your interest in attending part or all of this action, or for more information, please email Mark at eventscaatedin@gmail.com .Organised Jointly by EP&JC and Edinburgh Campaign Against Arms Trade.
4.Conscientious Objectors Day Vigil 5 – 6pm. Monday 15 May The Mound, by the National Gallery of Scotland With Singing, readings of poems and the names of COs from Edinburgh and across Scotland, as well as contemporary COs. This year Sweden has resumed conscription. We will stand in solidarity with all COs, past, present and future. Organised by EP&JC. 4th annual CO Day Vigil in Edinburgh. All welcome.
5.140,000 Origami Cranes Workshop: Remembering Hiroshima
2 – 4pm. Saturdays at Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre
5 Upper Bow, Edinburgh EH1 2JN
Sat 25 March the Origami Cranes workshop will be on the Meadows at the Fly Kites Not Drones event.
6. Saturday 27 May is a possible date for an open meeting on military recruitment in schools: watch this space.
7. And in Australia they continue:For the latest news: https://walkingforcountry.

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

STOP PRESS: Scottish CND welcomes the First Minister’s move to hold a second independence referendum: see https://scottishcnd.org

Nuclear Ban Treaty Discussions start this month http://nuclearban.org.

CND has been urging the government to play a constructive role in the negotiations. Last week representatives were joined by MPs to hand in 2,000 postcards to Boris Johnson and MPs from all parties expressed support for the initiative at our lobby event in parliament.
If you haven’t yet contacted your MP asking them to urge the government to attend these talks you can do so through the CND website http://www.cnduk.org. We know from past experience that campaigns like this really work. In 2014 the UK government was set to boycott a conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons in Vienna, but the groundswell of opinion in parliament and across society meant that a representative did attend.
You may also wish to add your name to a petition urging the UK government to attend the talks, if you haven’t done so already: http://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/175096

Scottish CND https://scottishcnd.org are working very hard to raise awareness of the Global Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty discussions and are asking us to raise awareness of these negotiations in press and public meetings.
There is also a working group, meeting at the SCND offices, and the minutes of the last meeting are below. All welcome to join.
Here is a message from one member of that group:

It’s only a couple of weeks till the ban treaty negotiations start, and we just had another positive and energetic meeting at the SCND office about what we can be doing in the next wee while. Please have a look at the minutes for our ideas and plans and feel free to share them with others.

There will be another meeting at 10.00am on Monday 20th March for those who can make it, or can join via facebook (let us know beforehand if you want to do that). We are aware that this is not good time for people with jobs but it was a time we could all make – its not a representative’s meeting, its a working group so we are happy to hear from anyone that can help out. If you have suggestions or questions please get in touch even if you can’t make a meet up……… Leaflets, briefings and cards from us- email or phone!

We can also supply a draft letter for MPs etc: e-mail edinburghcnd@yahoo.com or look at the Reaching Critical Will website: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org.
Reaching Critical Will also has a New publication—Banning nuclear weapons: principles and elements for a legally binding instrument.

+++++ The March 2017 edition of CND’s Campaign magazine is also available. Spring is most certainly here and we have been very busy, promoting our NHS not Trident campaign, commemorating the Fukushima disaster and preparing for the global nuclear ban negotiations. Catch up with all our news in the magazine, and read about why Trident doesn’t keep us safe:http://cnduk.org/cnd-media/campaign-magazine

p.s.Drones Campaign News March is at:https://www.dronecampaignnetwork@riseup.net

Minutes of the Global Nuclear Weapons Ban working Group:

Noted that Earth Hour, an annual global celebration where people switch off their lights for one hour to show they care about the future of our planet, falls on March 25th, with potential to make links to global nuclear disarmament. Social media opportunity!

Getting reps to the June/July session.
It is important that we do what we can to ensure the widest possible representation from Scotland at the main conference in Jue and July. One member has secured personal funding outside SCND and will attend both March and June/July meetings through WILPF’s accreditation. Arthur will seek exec approval for SCND to issue a special appeal fund to raise up to £5K so that SCND can have four additional accredited campaigners there under SCND’s registration for the June/July sessions of the conference. We will advise and encourage other organisations to register and support attendees as well. At this point, we are aware that MEDACT and CAAT are each sending representatives from Scotland, Bill Kidd MSP will attend in his role with PNND. We will ask ther MSPs (especially CPG members) to consider self-funding and attending in July (recess)
The possibility of finding accommodation through social and peace networks as well as budget travel costs must be explored. Flavia will research travel and accommodation options and likely costs.
It is very important that all potential participants are aware of the level and the nature of the work required in New York as well as the expectation in writing, reporting and speaking at meetings that will need to be undertaken afterwards.
The four will be expected to take on different areas of responsibility and work as a team both at the Conference and as campaigners after they return.
Janet will draft a role descriptor and an outline of the skill/experience for each of the four attenders which will include a staff member (Flavia was suggested and would be happpy to go). There should be team meetings and other preparations for the group of attendees.

Visit of Hibakusha 28th to 30th March
This will be a good opportunity to spread information about the negotiations. Ellen, Flavia and David will work on a joint press release on morning of 20th March. David will send a note to media planners. Flavia will send info about the visit to SCND contacts.

Public Meeting (s) in May
These meetings should be social events with input on the ban from prominent people and fundraising. They should be scheduled for after the May council elections. We will work on this at the next meeting.
Materials.

New A7 cards are on order (funded by Northern Friends Peace Board). There will also be cards and a banner on a new common design (Flavia). There might also be scope for a large disc image for stunts and the TP Nessie might also be allowed an outing. It would also be good to have banners for the Scottish attendees use at the Women’s March on 18th June in New York (to highlight Scottish attendance at the UN) – though they could be made on the spot!

Everyone was encouraged to utilise the images and messages available from the international campaign and to post and repost on social media.

Next Meeting: 20th March at 10 a.m. In the SCND office.

STOP PRESS: The theatre production ‘Faslane’ which will be at the Summerhall on the 10th and 11th April. More details to follow.

And two more things: 1. The monthly vigil of the Scottish Peace Network will take place on Thursday, March 23, from 5-6pm at the Dewar’s statue on Buchanan Street in Glasgow city centre.
2. If you are in Australia: This years Walkatjurra Dates are now set for the 4th of August leaving Fremantle and returning on the 3rd of September. They are hoping for a really good turn out this year ad hopefully it will be a celebration of a Ban on uranium mining. If Labor have not done it by then they need lots of people to come and demand that they keep their promises..

2.There will be leafleting on Saturday 11th March 1230 at the East End of Princes street.Please join us. We will be leafleting for the Global Nuclear Ban (continued below). (For other updates see +++++ especially item 6)

1. Our next meeting: ‘Trident, Truth and Trump’
A free talk by Veronika Tudhope, Organiser with the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (SCND), on her work to oppose the lunatic immoral waste of money that are Trident nuclear weapons, and build for the momentuous period till July when the UN will vote in New York on a global treaty to ban all nuclear weapons. Questions and discussion after.
Tuesday 7th March 7-8pm in the Peace & Justice Centre, 5 Upper Bow, Edinburgh, EH1 2JN, all welcome.
info: edinburghcnd.org contact: edinburghcnd@yahoo.com FB/twitter
There will be a short business meeting before hand at 6.15pm

2.continued
In one month negotiations will commence at the United Nations on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. The initiative has the support of more than 120 countries and represents the chance to take a huge step towards a world without nuclear weapons. http://nuclearban.org.
Despite the international consensus, the UK government continues to oppose the process and is set to boycott the negotiations. This isn’t good enough and will leave the UK among the international pariahs on this important issue.

Scrap Trident http://scraptrident.org reported on the Week of Action for the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty: It was great that so many of us got out on the streets last week to back the global ban. We’ve heard about events in Biggar, Forres, Inverness, Irvine, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Helensburgh, Dunoon and Ullapool, which is pretty impressive! It isn’t very easy campaigning on an issue on which the public have (so far) mostly no background information at all. The conventional media have been fed that information by the big international agencies but they haven’t yet understood its importance and relevance. This week we were told by one senior journalist that there is not much interest in “do-goodey stuff at the UN”. Of course, we have been there before, put in the effort and eventually the thing has taken off, and the media have then played catch-up. One good recent indicator was the mention of the ban made by MSPs in the recent Trident debate.
The ban treaty work in Scotland is continuing and here are a few of the activities from different organisations:
A. A letter has gone to all MSPs to inform them about the negotiations, to point out Scotland’s unique position, and to suggest a number of things they can do. The letter is copied below and it would be good if you could jog the elbows of your own MSPs about it.
B. A number of Scots may travel to the June sessions of the negotiations (as accredited civil society representatives).
C. SCND set up a ban treaty working group , and it needs some extra input ­ (not exclusive to SCND). Next meeting 8th March in Glasgow: contact SCND
++++++Added: notes on 8th March now available. Next meeting 20th March 10am, also in SCND office
D. UK CND report that they held a lobby of MPs followed by 2 meetings.
There are more leaflets and postcards if you need them and people who are ready to travel to speak at public meetings about the ban.

N B Signatures are still needed for the e-petition:
http://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/175096

++++3. Added on 2nd March:
You are invited to the Scottish Parliament on the 14th March at 2.00 pm
for an unusual and special opportunity which the Scottish Parliament
nuclear disarmament cross party group is hosting with Bill Kidd MSP.
Marzhan Nurzhan of Kazakhstan who is the PNND Coordinator for the
Commonwealth of Independent States (former Soviet countries) will make a
presentation about the important events that began in Kazakhstan in
1991, when a huge civil society movement in Kazakhstan was successful,
firstly in moving the Soviet government to close down the nuclear tests
site. Then, upon the break-up of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan sent the
nuclear weapons on their soil to Russia for demolition and negotiated a
Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone. This is an exciting and hopeful
story which I am sure you will want to hear. Please allow 20 minutes to
get through Parliamentary security.Please download the attached flier.
REGISTER if you intend to attend this event: To register contact Janet Fenton: janet@wordsandactions.scot or call 07795594573.
Spaces are limited and as such we ask that you RSVP by 9th March 2017 5pm.
+++++++ added on 10th NB still a few places left, but hurry.

4.The MOD is to shut bases to pay for Faslane taking the subs with upgraded Trident missiles (Fallon under fire over MOD upgrade plan, 25 February).
At least two of the eight Scottish bases that will shut are stopover points for the convoys taking the Nuclear warheads between Reading and Faslane. Will these convoys now stop off at Motorway services for comfort breaks, or will drivers spend longer at the wheel and increase the risks communities are already subject to? Will the convoys be rerouted to the more dangerous roads which link the few barracks which are to stay open?
As the UN starts to debate a global ban on nuclear weapons next month, let’s hope for a future free of the unacceptable risks to humanity these hellish weapons pose.

5. (a)Campaign Against Arms Trade and the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre have launched a petition to the City of Edinburgh Council to do everything within its power to require that Lothian Pensions Trust divest from all arms companies. The petition can only be signed by Edinburgh residents aged over 16 and you can sign the petition by clicking onto the link below.
Disarm the Scottish Pension Fund: Sign the Petition now!
If you’d like to add your support to the campaign and get involved with the Edinburgh CAAT group, please email outreach@caat.org.uk to find details of the next meeting.
(b) CAAT are also organising an event outside the Scottish Parliament to raise the profile of the arms made in Scotland currently being used against Yemen by Saudi Arabia If you would like to register your interest in attending part or all of this action, or if you would like more information, please email Mark at eventscaatedin@gmail.com. SAVE THE DATE: WEDNESDAY 19TH APRIL 2017 – FROM SCOTLAND WITH SHAME

++++++Added 6 on 10th. Six years ago, an earthquake and tsunami hit the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, releasing radioactive material into the atmosphere in what was the biggest nuclear disaster since the explosion at Chernobyl twenty five years earlier. Events in London:Friday, March 10th, 5:30pm-7:30pm
Outside Japanese Embassy, 101 Piccadilly, London Fukuishima March Saturday, March 11th, assemble 12 noon Outside Japanese Embassy, 101 Piccadilly, London Followed by a rally at Richmond Terrace (opposite Downing Street) with speakers including Kate Hudson and Bruce Kent Fukushima Parliamentary Public Meeting
Wednesday, March 15th, 7pm-9pm Committe Room 9, House of Commons, Westminster, London
EVENT IN GLASGOW Scottish CND will hold a short vigil between 3 pm – 3.30 pm at the Donald Dewar statue on Buchanan Street, Glasgow on Saturday March 11 .

AND THE REST OF THE NEWS:
0. Nuclear News No.93 March 2017 is now available to download here: http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/nuclearnews/NuClearNewsNo93.pdf
1. MPs debated Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain in response to a petition signed by 1.85 million people calling on the government to cancel the invitation.
2.Early notice of the Trident Ploughshares disarmament camp in July (8th to 16th) at Peaton Wood near Coulport. http://tridentploughshares.org/coulport-disarmament-camp-july-2017/
3.Latest Bulletin from the Los Alamos Study Group:
http://www.lasg.org/ActionAlerts/2017/Bulletin229.html
4.Something on Democracy:
http://wingsoverscotland.com/the-tyranny-of-majorities/
5.In London at the Weekend? Join the CND banner to say NHS not Trident on the national demo to save the national health service. Gather at the Gandhi memorial in Tavistock Square, 12 noon on 4 March 2017.
6.The next meeting of the Scottish Peace network is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Tuesday 11th April in Glasgow at the Electron Club in the CCA, Sauchiehall St. BUT if this time and date is not convenient please suggest alternatives and they can consider changing
7.New update from Australia https://walkingforcountry.com/ ++++++The Bad news this week is that the Federal Environment Minister gave environmental approval for the Mulga Rock uranium mine. Check out CCWA’s media release here. The good news is we still have a chance to stop this mine – particularly at the State election this Saturday where we can get rid of a pro nuclear Liberal Government.
8.The Stand Comedy Club has helped us and now needs our help:http://www.thestand.co.uk/news/699/25-02-2017-1106/stand_up_for_the_stand_comedy_club_%E2%80%93_we_need_your_help
9.Welcome to Argyll & Bute – what an attraction to promote! http://www.thenational.scot/comment/15123918.Kevin_McKenna__Welcome_to_Argyll_and_Bute__Europe_s_capital_for_weapons_of_mass_destruction/?ref=rl&lp=2
10.(passed)After the Independence Convention- Organising IndyRef2 Meeting tonight at the Augustine Church. 7pm

The next meeting of Edinburgh CND will be on Tuesday 7th March in the Peace and Justice Centre. It will be a special meeting with Veronika Tudhope (one of the Scottish CND co-ordinators) and we are sure that what she has to say will be of interest to many of our supporters. Veronika will be speaking from 7pm and one of the topics will be the continuing work on the Global Ban Treaty http://nuclearban.org. Before that (6.15pm) we will be having a short business meeting to discuss our future activities (including our input into the meadows festival). All are invited to that too.
+++We are interested in hearing from you, if you find the 1st Tuesday of the month a difficult time to get to meetings. Please e-mail edinburghcnd@yahoo.com

Before our next meeting there are 3 other events that may be of interest:

1. Speaking up for Women Internationally. Event organised by the Scottish Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom as part of the Audacious Women festival. Wednesday 22nd Feb 7pm to 9pm Augustine United Church George IVth bridge EH1 1LB. Scottish wilpf also are also showing their ‘Dangerous Women’ Exhibition at ‘The Little Shop of Memories’ Ocean Terminal 1st February to 3rd March.

2. Open day at Faslane Peacecamp 25th February: https://faslanepeacecamp.wordpress.com/
++++ We are also planning another another EdinburghCND trip to the camp in March

3. One day without us 20th February. EdinburghCND members will be at the Mound at 5.30pm

Other News:
1. Edinburgh CND has a new recruiting card and we hope to get it out to as many as possible over the next few months.

2. CND (UK) has published a new report which examines the security implications of Trident, Britain’s nuclear weapons system. The report was published in Parliament on 8th February at a meeting with Caroline Lucas MP (Green), Kelvin Hopkins MP (Labour), Margaret Ferrier MP (SNP), Paul Ingram (BASIC), and Richard Norton-Taylor (writer for the Guardian on defence and security).
Richard Norton-Taylor, Guardian journalist, said:
“Trident, of course, is supremely irrelevant to combating the main threat to Britain’s security, a threat which, according to Cameron, will last a generation. So violent jihadist groups, now manifest by Isis, will still be the main security threat when a new Trident fleet starts to sail in the 2030s. And such groups are not going to be deterred by any nuclear weapon, least of all such intercontinental ballistic missiles as Trident.”
This report looks into the many ways that Trident fails to protect us, with quotes from experts. The nuclear weapons system is vulnerable to emerging underwater drone technology; one of the unique selling points – that they are undetectable under water – soon won’t exist. Our report also shows why it is vulnerable to cyber attack and why it’s not an independent system.
Read the report today and share on social media, using the hashtag #StopTrident
http://cnduk.org/information/briefings/trident-briefings/item/2661-security-not-trident
+++++ On this website you will also find info on a Lobby of the UK parliament on 1st March and demo on 4th

3. Edinburgh CND has been active on the anti-Trump demos in Edinburgh. Here is a report of the one held on Saturday 11th February: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-38933037

4. Edinburgh CND has also been active in building the Global Ban campaign http://nuclearban.org.http://banthebomb.org/. Here is a reply from representatives of the UK government that was received by one of our members who wrote urging the government to participate in the talks:
‘ I am replying as the Desk Officer from the Counter Proliferation & Arms Control Centre responsible for international nuclear issues.
The UK is committed to a world without nuclear weapons in line with our obligations under Article VI of the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). We share the deep concern at the humanitarian consequences which could result from the use of nuclear weapons. We have a strong record on nuclear disarmament – we have steadily reduced the size of our own nuclear forces by well over half since our Cold War peak and the UK stockpile now represents around 1% of the total global stockpile.
However, we firmly believe that the best way to achieve a world without nuclear weapons is through gradual multilateral disarmament negotiated using a step-by-step approach and within the framework of the NPT. We do not believe that now is the right time to start negotiations on a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons, as the right political and security conditions that would allow the nuclear weapon States to relinquish their nuclear weapons do not yet exist. For these reasons, we, along with the other NPT nuclear weapons States and NATO allies, did not support the resolution establishing negotiations on a nuclear weapons ban treaty at the UN General Assembly.
We remain determined to work with partners across the international community to prevent proliferation and to make progress on multilateral nuclear disarmament, to build trust and confidence between nuclear and non-nuclear weapon States, and to take tangible steps toward a safer and more stable world in which countries with nuclear weapons feel able to relinquish them.
Yours sincerely
Counter Proliferation & Arms Control Centre
++++Don’t forget the petition urging UK government participation in the talks: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/175096
+++++f you need more information, There is a working group, so
email janet@wordsandactions.scot or come to the next meeting which
will be at the SCND office at 4.30 27th Feb

5. Another petition worth signing: 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. It is my proposal that all UK governments must include the senior cabinet positions of Ministers for Peace and Disarmament. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/178703
Following the appointment of Fabian Hamilton to the position of Shadow Minister for Peace and Disarmament – a post created in 2016 by Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn – it is my proposal that from now on all UK governments must include the senior cabinet positions of Ministers for Peace and Disarmament.

6. The Campaign against the arms trade are also sponsoring an important petition:
A pension scheme managed by Edinburgh City Council for it’s staff is sitting on arms investments worth £128 million. The Lothian Pensions Trust invests in major arms companies including BAE Systems, whose weapons are currently playing a central role in Saudi Arabia’s devastating attacks on Yemen. BAE’s weapons have been used to commit human rights abuses across the globe, from suppressing pro-democracy protests in Bahrain to Israel’s deadly attacks in Gaza. So why is Edinburgh Council investing for the future with them?
Campaign Against Arms Trade and the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre have launched a petition to the City of Edinburgh Council to do everything within its power to require that Lothian Pensions Trust divest from all arms companies. We need 200 signatures to get our petition accepted and appear before the Lothian Pensions Trust to present the petition- and we’re already nearly halfway there! Please add your name today, and share with friends to help Edinburgh Campaign Against Arms Trade group reach their goal. The petition can only be signed by Edinburgh residents aged over 16 and you can sign the petition by clicking onto the link below. https://crm.caat.org.uk/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2164&qid=1007694
Edinburgh CAAT are asking you to forward to friends and also asking us to ‘save a date’:Saturday, 15th April,when they will be holding a day training event (between 10:30pm and 3:30pm) with external facilitators to explore creative campaign approaches and develop a strategy for campaigning against the arms trade in Scotland.

7. The next meeting of the Scottish Peace Network will take place on Monday, February 20, in the Peace and Justice Centre just off of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. Their monthly vigil will take place on Thursday, February 23, from 5-6pm at the Dewar´¨s statue on Buchanan Street in Glasgow city centre.

And yet more:
1. The following motion will be going to the SNP conference:
UN NUCLEAR WEAPON TREATY BAN: Conference welcomes the UN Treaty Ban Conference taking place this month (March 2017) to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination; understands that the UK Government voted to oppose this discussion happening as a Nuclear Weapon State without any consultation with Scotland or the Scottish Government.
Conference reaffirms its commitment to ridding Scotland and the world of nuclear weapons; welcomes any new instruments that will add urgency to the need for unilateral nuclear disarmament to create a safe and peaceful environment in Scotland that we all aspire to; and in the event of independence, calls on the Scottish Government to make international, unilateral disarmament of nuclear weapons a top priority of its international relations strategy.

2. Support for independence surges to 49% as the roof caves in on Theresa May’s “Scotland will have to lump it” doctrine
SCOT goes POP!: Support for independence surges to 49% as the roof caves in on Theresa May’s “Scotland will have to lump it” doctrine from James Kelly’s Tweet

3. For the latest news from Australia: https://walkingforcountry.com/

4. A campaign has been started to lift the sanctions against Zimbabwe. Contact
jeanpierrebarrois@gmail.com for more details

The International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)has called for a “Week of Action’ from the 10th to 17th February (further details below). As part of this Edinburgh CND will be holding a stall on Saturday 11th at the anti-Trump event at the Meadows: meet 11.45 on Middle Meadow Walk outside Sainsburys (see below)
We will also be leafleting from 1230 at the East End of Princes Street before Women in Black
On Monday 13th there will also be leafleting at East End of Princes Street 5.30 to 6pm (prior to Scottish wilpf meeting) and on Friday 10th a stall from 5pm also at the East End of Princes Street.
More events on http://banthebomb.org and more information on http://nuclearban.org. and below:

The United Nations is starting to negotiate a nuclear weapons ban treaty at the end of March in New York. This presents an opportunity to end the threat of nuclear annihilation and for the nine countries that have nuclear weapons to join the international consensus in favour of scrapping them. The negotiations are supported by a huge majority of the world’s governments but the UK Government say they want multilateral disarmament and they won’t take part. The Scottish Parliament would support the treaty, but is misrepresented by the UK. The international campaign, ICAN, has supported ordinary people across the world as well as at the UN to get the ban treaty this far, and has called for the Week of Action. Everyone should know about the ban, but the UK media are not reporting it so far, so it is up to us. There is now a Scottish working group to support activity here, and provide information and resources. We hope you will join in. Add the Ban twibbon to your profile. http://banthebomb.org
The recent revelation that a Trident missile test had to be aborted after the missile veered off course towards Florida highlights the continuing danger nuclear weapons pose to the world. Coupled with the many erratic statements from President Donald Trump, the time has come for international action to eliminate nuclear weapons everywhere.Contact your MP to arrange a meeting and make sure the voice of those who support a ban on nuclear weapons is heard.
On March 25th – the eve of the conference CND will print an advert in a national newspaper, to raise awareness of this vital development. If you can help fund the advert with a donation, we’ll add your name to it. If 500 people donate £20 each, the ad will be fully funded, but any amount will help towards getting it published. http://www.cnduk.org

Reminder: If you haven’t signed the petition urging UK government participation in the talks: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/175096

+++CND has published a new report this week which examines the security implications of Trident, Britain’s nuclear weapons system. The Security not Trident report was published in Parliament yesterday at a meeting with Caroline Lucas MP (Green), Kelvin Hopkins MP (Labour), Margaret Ferrier MP (SNP), Paul Ingram (BASIC), and Richard Norton-Taylor (writer for the Guardian on defence and security).

Scotland Against Trump – National demo Saturday 11th, 12 noon at the Meadows, Edinburgh
With the exception of Iran, Trump’s ban targets countries that the US has bombed. He is continuing bombing campaigns across the Middle East. There have already been confirmed US attacks in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, where one US commando was killed and two were injured in a failed US raid. US policy towards Iran has returned to the hostile and aggressive posture that was the norm until recently. Furthermore, 350,000 children are trapped and at risk in the US-supported siege of Mosul.
Since Trump’s election, CND has stood in solidarity with the protests against racism, misogyny, and we now stand in solidarity with those protesting against Islamophobia. Our message of stopping Trump’s nuclear arms race and ending the special nuclear relationship between the US and Britain are a vital part of these new movements. There is a report and 20 photos from last Saturday’s Edinburgh march against Trump’s Muslim ban.Edinburgh March Against Trump’s Muslim Ban | Aotearoa Indymedia
Edinburgh CND has participated in the Edinburgh protests and will also be there on Sat 11th (see above)
Other Actions: Sign the letter from the world to Donald Trump https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/president_trump_letter_phtesttr/
Petition: Prevent Donald Trump from making a State Visit to the United Kingdom.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/171928

Other News:
1. Anti-nuclear campaigners have responded to news about further reliability issues with the Trident II D5 missiles.
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said:
“It’s time for the government to end its silence about the Trident missile crisis. It’s not enough for officials to send out press statements saying we ‘we have absolute confidence’ in Trident when there is now a catalogue of very serious failures that the government needs to address.
“We are calling for a Trident Inquiry. The public have a right to know the details of these cover-ups and failures.”
Ask your MP to sign EDM 877 calling for a Trident Inquiry
As news emerged over the weekend that Trident missiles have been experiencing issues with navigation for some time, the government remains silent on the failed test and the cover-up that followed.
The Sunday Times reported that a United States test of the Trident missile also failed and was covered up by the US administration.

2.nuClear News No. 92, February 2017 is now available for downloading here: http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/nuclearnews/NuClearNewsNo92.pdf

3.Peace and Justice Centre February news with a Women’s Day theme http://peaceandjustice.org.uk/

4. Drones Campaign News Feb: dronecampaignnetwork@riseup. net

5.(a) Faslane peace camp is holding an open day you are all most wholeheartedly welcome to come along and please feel free to share this information with whomever you would like to.
– https://faslanepeacecamp.wordpress.com/2017/02/08/open-day-at-the-faslane-peace-camp-25th-of-february-community-is-unity/
– https://www.facebook.com/events/591324197732997/
We are visiting on the 12th also.
(b) Starting at 06.30 AM on 2 Feb 5 anti-nuclear activists blocked the morning traffic at the south gate of HMNB Clyde in Faslane. The activists locked-on to one another using arm tubes and formed a blockade on the road leading to the gates. The MoD police cutting team arrived at the scene at 07:00 AM, while MoD officers blocked legal observers’ access from the activists. The morning traffic was directed to the North Gate of the naval base. At 07.30 AM, at the time of the first arrest, the tailback of the traffic stretched from the North Gate beyond Shandon, a distance of over two miles.

6. Benchmark 6 is an old Ministry of Defence term for a worst case accident with a Trident submarine. A Scottish film-maker, David Newbigging, is planning to make a fictional documentary exploring just such a scary scenario, right here, on the Clyde. David approached the Executive of Scottish CND to explain his project and they have agreed to lend it their support. https://socialscreen.co.uk/films/benchmark-6/support

7.Campaign Against Arms Trade is challenging the UK government in a judicial review for supplying arms to Saudi Arabia for the production of a humanitarian disaster in Yemen. The hearings started yesterday, more to follow today and on Friday.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-high-court-review-saudi-arms-sales-during-yemen-conflict-597910394
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0481zgm
Please write to your MP here, today:
https://www.caat.org.uk/get-involved/act-now/lobby/stop-arming-saudi-arabia
And please sign the petition, too: https://www.caat.org.uk/get-involved/act-now/petition/stop-arming-saudi !

8. We are saddened to announce that Atsuko Betchaku died suddenly last week.
Atsuko was a much loved and valued volunteeer at the Peace and Justice Centre. She organised and ran many peace cranes workshops around Edinburgh remembering Hiroshima and the wish of a little girl called Sadako for future peace and disarmament. The workshops were always a joy, with much laughter, happiness and beauty. The last post she created on her Cranes project website announced the hope that there will be an exhibition of the 140,000 Cranes in Scottish Parliament in 2018. Atsuko’s website is at:https://origamicraneproject.jimdo.com/
Her funeral will take place: Thursday 16 February 3:30pm at Warriston Crematorium

9. The next meeting of the Countering Recruitment of under-18s to the armed forces campaign will be on Tuesday 14th Feb

Following the huge anti-Trump demonstrations in Edinburgh and across the country last weekend, as well as a media frenzy following the news of the Trident missile crisis cover up (see 1 below), it is an extremely busy time for all CND groups. It’s also a huge opportunity to get our message out wider too.
+++++ See our Facebook page for more Trump activities:https://www.facebook.com/EdinburghCND/

The next Edinburgh CND meeting will be on Tuesday 7th Feb 6pm Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre 5 Upper Bow EH1 2NJ. All invited. We will be discussing our future activities including our contribution to the worldwide Week of Action from 10th to 17th Feb (see 2 below).
STOP PRESS: also see 13 below for a Parliamentary debate on the 8th and 14 for a meeting in Inverness on the 3rd

1. Trident is a disaster waiting to happen:
The news that Theresa May covered up a failed Trident missile test in 2016 is a crisis for our democracy as well as a crisis for the security of Britain. Michael Fallon continued the denial.
As CND’s Kate Hudson said to the media: “this is a very serious failure of the Trident system and there’s absolutely no doubt this would have impacted on the debate in Parliament on Trident replacement. The government’s motivation for holding back this vital information is therefore clear.
“Instead of crucial information being given by the government at the appropriate time to inform the MP’s debate, it’s been revealed by a senior naval figure months after it took place.” Write to your MP to demand an inquiry into this crisis.
“Both Parliament and public have the right to the truth, which is why we’re calling for a Trident Inquiry. Thousands of letters have already been sent to MPs to demand that an inquiry is conducted. It’s time for the government act.”
Parliamentary CND Chair Caroline Lucas has tabled an Early Day Motion calling for an inquiry.

2. Last year Scotland held numerous demos to oppose the Trident vote. Now we found out that Theresa May covered up this failed Trident missile test right before the vote. We must challenge the UK’s bad decision. Negotiations for a Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty start in March at The United Nations meeting in New York. The Ban is supported by most member states – but not the UK, and the UK media are not reporting it so far. It is up to us to tell the good news.

ICAN call for a worldwide Week of Action from 10th to 17th Feb.
SCND and others are working with the Scrap Trident Coalition to make a big impression!
Are you willing to organise a street stall or arrange a photograph opportunity in your local area after work one evening or during the weekend in the week of action?
We have postcards and leaflets to tell the Ban Treaty story (from the SCND and Edinburgh Peace & Justice offices). We need everyone in Scotland to see them. You can ask your local MSPs to get involved and get everyone to register on http://nuclearban.org.
SCND and the Scrap Trident Coalition will post about activities and the contact person in each area. Please let us know if you’d be interested in coordinating a stall. We will offer support.
We are asking everyone to make sure that we can get pictures of the whole week, make Facebook events and share these on Facebook, Twitter etc. If this is new for you we can help you get started. We will use social media to publicise all the activities, and it is really important that ICAN has our photographs with placards or statements supporting the Global Ban Treaty to share in New York!
Reminder: If you haven’t signed the petition urging UK government participation in the talks: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/175096
There is a lobby of MPs organised on Wednesday 1st March to call on the UK government to play a constructive role in the negotiations, and this is your chance to persuade your local MP.

STOP PRESS: (I)Anti-nuclear campaigners have responded to the announcement made by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists that the Doomsday Clock has moved to 2 minutes 30 seconds.
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said: “The Doomsday Clock has moved closer to midnight. The twin threats of nuclear war and climate change pose a greater danger to the world in 2017 than in 2016. We agree that the provocative statements made by Donald Trump have broken international conventions and made a new arms race a real possibility.It’s now absolutely vital that Britain supports negotiations for a global nuclear ban taking place at the United Nations this year”. Meanwhile, a few blocks away in Washington DC on the same day as the Doomsday Clock announcement, UNFOLD ZERO and Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND) held a consultation with arms control experts and disarmament activists on how to reduce nuclear risks and advance nuclear disarmament. The meeting was part of a series of consultations in Geneva, Vienna, New York, Washington, London and other centres, focusing on upcoming multilateral processes, including United Nations negotiations on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons, the resumption of the Non-Proliferation Treaty review cycle and the 2018 UN High Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament.

STOP PRESS: (II) Anti-nuclear campaigners called for an end to the Special Relationship – particularly its nuclear elements – ahead of Theresa May’s meeting with US President Donald Trump. Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said: “There is widespread recognition that President Trump poses an increasing nuclear threat to the world. He has encouraged proliferation and a new nuclear arms race, and calls for a major increase in the US nuclear arsenal. This is a disastrous direction for US foreign and military policy – and for ours too, as we are tied to the US in the Mutual Defence Agreement. Signed in 1958 this is the most extensive nuclear sharing agreement in the world.

3. On Tuesday morning (24th) at 06.45 AM, four anti-nuclear activists blocked the ongoing morning traffic at the south gate of HMBB Clyde in Faslane. Action was recorded by activists from the nearby Faslane Peace Camp, a protest site dedicated to campaigning against nuclear weapons since 1982. The protesters interrupted the morning routines by walking into the line of traffic and pulling a banderol over the road. Edinburgh CND will be visiting the camp in February (watch this space)

4. Audacious Women festival : Scottish WILPF Exhibition at Ocean Terminal
If you haven’t seen the Dangerous Wome Exhibition yet it will be at ‘The Little Shop of Memories’ Ocean Terminal 1st February to 3rd March. If you are not in Edinburgh and would like the Exhibition for a local venue please contact Scottish WILPF.

5. Peace and Justice Centre News:
(a)Burns Supper and Ceilidh Sat 28 Jan 2017. 6pm. Burns Supper. 8 – 11pm Ceilidh.
(b) Alternatives to the local authority debt crisis Friday 27th January. 6 – 8:30pm. Augustine’s United Church on George IV Bridge.
(c) Another reminder: Ask your MP and MSP to sign these parliamentary motions on Military Recruitment of Under 18s (see earlier post on this site).
(d) Paper crane-making every Saturday afternoon from 2pm.

6.January’s Nuclear News at http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/news/21-january-2017

7. Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) are taking the government to Court.
For nearly two years the government has refused to stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia, ignoring overwhelming evidence that UK weapons are being used in violations of international humanitarian law in Yemen.
Campaigners put the government under unprecedented pressure – but it has continued to do all it can to maintain its relationship with Saudi Arabia, the UK’s biggest arms customer. CAAT are asking people to write to their MPs.

8. Join Helesnburgh CND Life after Trident Conference on 11 Feb, 1 – 5 pm (Helensburgh Parish Church Halls, Colquhoun Square, G84 8UP).

9.The monthly vigil of the Scottish Peace Network will take place this Thursday, January 26, from 5 to 6pm at Dewar’s statue, Buchanan Street in Glasgow city centre. This year the official Armed Forces Day event will take place in Liverpool on June 24. Stirling is holding its usual military show on Saturday, June 17, this will be raised at their next meeting on February 20.

10. CND is organising an ‘NHS Not Trident’ block at the ‘Our NHS’ march to Parliament on Saturday 4th March. We are anticipating massive interest and a huge turnout, and we want all CND groups to be part of it too.

11.++++++News from Italy: Submarine Crashes Through Streets Of Milan In Creative Publicity Stunt: http://www.boredpanda.com/submarine-crash-milan-mc-saatchi-europ-assistance-italia/

12.More News from Australia:
Last week the Environment Minister approved the Yeelirrie uranium proposal – ignoring the EPA advice that the project doesn’t meet objective under the Environmental Protection Act – as the project could make 11 species extinct!!!!+

13. Trident and its Successor Programme – The Case for non-renewal, employment diversification and contributing to peace
The Jimmy Reid Foundation published the above Report on 24 November, read at http://reidfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Trident-Report-24th-Nov-1.pdf .
Bill Kidd MSP with cross party support has tabled the motion below supporting the findings of the Report. Jackie Baillie MSP has tabled an amendment opposing the motion. The motion will be debated in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 8 February at 5.00pm. There will also be a public discussion afterwards in Committee Room 5 from 6.00pm to about 7.30pm. The lead author of the Report, Professor Mike Danson will be present to facilitate discussion. MSP’s will also be invited to attend. The Committee Room is booked in the name of Bill Kidd MSP.
My purpose in writing to you is to invite you to attend the debate in the Public Gallery and/or participate in the discussion afterwards. Also please forward/facebook/twitter any acquaintance you think may be interested in attending.
If attending the debate arrive no later than 4.30pm to allow time to go through security. If attending the discussion you require a visitors pass and need to email your name to JennyElisabeth.Holt@parliament.scot .

14.The HANT (Highlands Against Nuclear Transport) AGM
When: Friday 3rd February, 19:30 Where: Concourse Room Spectrum Centre
1 Margaret Street Inverness IV1 1LS (Ground floor with disabled access)
Refreshments: will be provided! Everyone welcome – come along to learn about our efforts in stopping the transport of nuclear waste by rail, sea and air!