January 20, 2017January 20, 2017 edinburghcnd

Edinburgh CND news 20th January

Apologies: this one is rather long (but worth it)

1. Stop Trump’s Nuclear Arms Race protests: assemble 5.30 today (20th) at the East End of Princes Street and march to the US consulate Regent Terrace. There is also a demo at US Embassy London
CND is also taking part in the Women’s March in Edinburgh, London and other cities. Organisers have called the protest “to unite and stand together for the dignity and equality of all peoples, for the safety and health of our planet and for the strength of our vibrant and diverse communities.” Edinburgh assemble 11am outside the US consulate 3 Regent Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5BW

Edinburgh CND will be at both events with our Arms are for Linking banner and some trump masks.
CNDs Kate Hudson said: “Donald Trump has sparked fear across the world with a series of provocative statements. He has called for the expansion of the US nuclear capability, the tearing up of the Iran nuclear deal, and he appeared to welcome a possible arms race in Asia.

2. 2017 is set to be an historic year as negotiations begin at the United Nations on an international treaty to ban nuclear weapons.
However, despite the treaty negotiations receiving the backing of 120 countries, the UK voted against and has not indicated whether it will attend the talks beginning in March in New York.
CND is calling on the UK government to play a constructive role in the negotiations and has called a lobby of MPs to give you the chance to persuade your member of Parliament.
Making progress on international disarmament is particularly urgent given the fast changing international situation, including the growing tensions between the US and China.
We urge as many of our supporters as possible to back this important lobby. The CND team will be in parliament on the day to give any information or support you may need. You can come along in your lunch break of after work if you are nearby. Otherwise why not get a group together and come to parliament?
http://cnduk.us12.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=50a46ed98fb9032bd46d11880&id=d02776de87&e=96dcf14be7

Edinburgh CND News 6th Jan 2017: Note important update for Sat 21st

Wishing all our supporters a peaceful new year:

Edinburgh CND will be leafleting at the East End of Princes Street on Saturday 14th January at 1230.

A New Year Message from CND

Don’t forget that this is the year of the UN talks to initiate a treaty to prohibit all Nuclear Weapons. The following letter appeared in the National on 6th Jan:
‘I strongly agree with Joseph G Miller’s letter in Wednesday’s National (‘Shame on UK for voting against nuke treaty bid’). It’s a scandal that the BBC hasn’t covered recent developments at the UN where 123 countries voted in favour of a resolution to negotiate on a treaty to prohibit all nuclear weapons. The UK voted against this resolution, contradicting the noises the government make about being in favour of multilateral disarmament. Scotland had no vote despite having hosted these obscene weapons for decades with all the attendant risks.
Mr Miller finishes his letter hoping the Scottish electorate will wake up to the dangers of nuclear weapons. I can assure him many of us have. Some are Peace Campers at Faslane, some campaigners with Scottish CND and its local groups, some the activitists of Nukewatch monitoring the bomb convoys. Join us!
The next elections are for local councils in May, I urge voters to quiz your candidates about the risks of nuclear warheads being driven along our roads and what they plan to do about the danger we are all put in by this’.

Remember: You could help persuade the UK government to support this coming World Conference on Nuclear Weapons by signing our petition.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/175096

+++++STOP PRESS: https://www.facebook.com/events/115723635598426/ for Women’s event on Sat 21st
Join us to say Stop Trump’s Nuclear Arms Race on the day of the US President-elect’s inauguration. We’ll be at the Wellington Statue East end of Princes street on 20 January from 5 30pm. There will be a London event at the same time.
The last few weeks have seen international tensions grow as US President-elect Donald Trump has made an alarming series of statements, the consequences of which could spell nuclear annihilation.
Breaking with decades of US presidential policy, Trump has spoken in favour of nuclear proliferation – suggesting that more countries should develop their own nuclear weapons. Referring to Japan and South Korea countering North Korea, he said he’s fine about a nuclear arms race in East Asia. There can be few more dangerous developments.
But dangerous statements and actions abound. Before Christmas he said “the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability”, and at the end of the year he was reported as saying “let it be an arms race” in a telephone call to the MSNBC presenter Mika Brzezinski.
He has already stated that he wishes to end the nuclear deal with Iran. His decision to end decades of agreement with China by phoning the Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen raises the spectre of a conflict too terrible to contemplate.
Our movement must confront this situation as a matter of urgency: the real world effects of this provocative approach to international relations by Britain’s main ally – the most powerful military force in the world – can already be felt.

OTHER EVENTS:

1. Visits to Faslane: Saturday 7th January and a Sunday in February. Contact edinburghcnd@yahoo.com for further details

2. A night of celebration for the life of John Ainslie – giant of Scottish CND and the peace movement in Scotland – will take place from 7.30 pm in St Peters Church Hall, Glasgow, G11 5PS (Chancellor St. entrance) on Friday January 13th.
The event is being organised by Scottish CND and is open to our members and supporters and people from the wider Peace Movement who wish to attend. Supporters from CND groups or networks across the UK are also very welcome to attend. There will be some light snacks available and refreshments, but people can bring their own bottle. Donations will be welcome to cover the food costs.
The programme for the night is as follows:
7.30 pm: Opening remarks and welcome – Arthur West – chair of Scottish CND
7.45 pm – 8.30 pm: Songs, music and contributions from various people on the life of John Ainslie
8.30 pm: Break and a chance for some food and drink
9 pm: Brief readings from John’s reports down the years
9.15 pm Celidh music and dancing
10.30 pm Closing remarks
John Ainslie’s nephew – Ross Ainslie will be playing a few songs. He is one of Scotland’s finest traditional musicians playing pipes, whistles and cittern.
Maeve MacKinnon, who is an outstanding Scottish singer, will also be performing at the event. Maeve is the daughter of former Scottish CND chair Alan MacKinnon

3. Peace and Justice Burns Supper and Ceilidh
Sat 28 Jan 2017. 6pm Burns Supper. 8 – 11pm Ceilidh.
Full three course Burns’ Supper, with speakers, peace activist and author Alastair McIntoshwith the Immortal Memory, musician and inspiring educator Stan Reeves giving the Address to the Haggis, and political activist, writer and dreamer Zara Kitson responding from the lassies. Dancing until midnight with Hud Yer Wheesht Edinburgh Ceilidh Band, and support acts Various Moons playing Norman MacCaig-inspired tunes, and Kenny Vass singing Burns.
Full licensed bar with organic and local delights and the raffle with Gandolf. Raising vital funds to keep the campaining going for Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre.
Come to the full Burns Supper & Ceilidh or just the Ceilidh
Supper & Ceilidh (supporters) £25 / Standard £20 / Concession £15
Ceilidh Only: Supporters £15 / Standard £10 / Concession £6.50 / Advance concession £5 / under 12 £3.50
Book Tickets at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2

4. The next meeting of the Scottish Peace Network will take place on Tuesday, January 10, at 2pm in the electron club which is on the first floor of the Centre for Contemporary Art on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow city centre

STOP PRESS 5. CAAT Edinburgh quarterly meeting
17th January 2017, 7pm – 8.45pm
at Quakers’ Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh EH1 2JL will discuss current campaigns, including the national and local campaigns on Yemen, action on arms companies’ presence in Scottish schools and other ideas for action from several sub-meetings that have taken place since the last quarterly meeting.4

STOP PRESS 6. More on CND wish to all CND groups and members (see first item) a happy and peaceful 2017. Despite the serious challenges we face, we are feeling very positive about the year ahead for our campaign. It will be exciting to follow developments at the UN with a global nuclear weapons ban being negotiated – starting in March. But no matter what this year brings, we will continue to work hard together to campaign against all things nuclear. They also suggested using their new materials http://www.cnduk.org/shop/index.php?cPath=3&osCsid=4t61eusiamka2kjlv1oss2seo4

December 27, 2016December 30, 2016 edinburghcnd

Edinburgh CND News 27th December

+++Edinburgh CND will not be having a formal meeting in January. We will be visiting Faslane on the 7th and attending a memorial for John Ainslie on the 13th. Further details to follow.

Don’t forget to sign the e-petition to urge the UK government to take part in the UN talks. See update below:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/175096

In Historic Vote, UN General Assembly Mandates
2017 Negotiations to Ban Research, Development, Testing, Stockpiling, Use of Nuclear Weapons
“Most significant nuclear disarmament development since Cold War”
Contact: Greg Mello, 505-265-1200 (office), 505-577-8563 (cell)
Trish Williams-Mello, 505-265-1200 (office), 505-577-3366 (cell)
The resolution was carried by a large majority despite the late hour on a Friday evening two days before Christmas, with 113 member states voting in favour, 35 against, and 13 abstaining.
According to a press release this evening from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which has been coordinating NGO support for a nuclear ban treaty, the US attempted to block funding for negotiations last week:
At a UN budget committee meeting earlier this week, the United States attracted the ire of other nations when it objected to a funding request for the planned four weeks of negotiations on the treaty, to be held at UN headquarters in New York. But under intense pressure from supporters of nuclear disarmament, it eventually withdrew its objection, and the committee authorized the request.
For background on the vote see: “UN votes to outlaw nuclear weapons in 2017” (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Oct 27, 2016) and “Historic UN vote to mandate negotiation of treaty banning nuclear weapons” (Los Alamos Study Group, Oct 24, 2016). A concise explanation and FAQs about the upcoming negotiations can be found in a December summary by ICAN. Selected further background is here and at ICAN.
The resolution’s operative paragraphs mandate “a United Nations conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination,” to occur “from 27 to 31 March and from 15 June to 7 July 2017, with the participation and contribution of international organizations and civil society representatives.”
Crucially, treaty negotiations would occur under General Assembly rules – that is, without a consensus requirement or veto option, “unless otherwise agreed by the conference.” Creating a negotiating forum without a de facto veto rule has been a major goal of the resolution’s sponsors.
L.41 requires the spring 2017 negotiating conference to “submit a report on its progress to the General Assembly at its seventy-second session [autumn, 2017], which will assess the progress made in the negotiations and decide the way forward” – by majority rule, again.
The ban treaty envisioned by the resolution would stigmatize and prohibit nuclear weapons, closing the “legal gap” stemming from nuclear weapon state practice and their associated assertion in diplomatic and legal fora that nuclear weapons are completely legitimate weapons – for these states only.[1]
Please see our ban treaty web page http://www.lasg.org/BAN/BAN_open.html for in-depth background. The International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), in which the Study Group is a US partner organization, has provided an excellent, concise overview of the negotiations to come as well as highlights of this year’s campaign action

Ask your MP to sign the EDM 578 text below.
That this House notes that the UN Open-ended working group on Nuclear Disarmament concluded with the submission of a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly which calls for a conference to be convened in 2017 with a view to negotiating a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination; welcomes this proposal as a positive steps towards achieving the aim of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and of successive UK Governments of a world without nuclear weapons; and calls on the Government to participate fully in these discussions at the UN and encourage all other nations to do the same

STOP PRESS 1. LASQ also urges caution rather than panic over the Trump Nuclear tweet: Bulletin 228: Trump Tweet Hysteria
2. UNFOLD ZERO is organising a number of private meetings on the UN High Level Conference with governments, as well as open consultation meetings with non-governmental organisations in Geneva, London, New York, Vienna, Washington and other locations in early 2017.At these meetings they will discuss strategy and campaign activities to build success for the UN High Level Conference. For more information see UN to hold High Level Conference on nuclear disarmament.

Other News:
News from Australia: It’s been another big year with Walks happening through Karlamilyi in the Pilbara along with the annual Walkatjurra Walkabout through the Goldfields. This was followed by the annual ANFA meeting in Kalgoorlie. We have had lots of public meetings in Fremantle and Perth with Traditional Owners coming from all over W.A to voice their concerns and to also meet with many Politicians.
Thank you to all the people who have supported this through out the year. It would never happen without the ongoing generosity and support from you all.

Marshall Islands: The Arms Control Association, a prominent Washington, DC-based group promoting arms control policies, has announced the finalists for its annual Arms Control Person of the Year award.
One of the finalists is the government of the Marshall Islands and its former Foreign Minister Tony de Brum, “for pursuing a formal legal case in the International Court of Justice in The Hague against the world’s nuclear-armed states for their failure to initiate nuclear disarmament negotiations in violation of Article VI of the 1968 nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) and customary international law.”
Voting is open now through January 5, 2017, at this link: https://www.armscontrol.org/acpoy.

December 16, 2016December 17, 2016 edinburghcnd

Edinburgh CND news 16th December

1. Faslane Peacecamp are having a declutter and EdinburghCND have offered to help.
We are making 2 trips: one this Saturday (17th) and one in the new year.
If you are willing and can help with either please email edinburghcnd@yahoo.com

2. The situation in Yemen is terrible and getting worse. Edinburgh CND is supporting the protest on Saturday 24th December from 1pm – 2.30pm at the Wellington Statue East end of Princes Street: Stand up for Yemen: stop the UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia https://www.facebook.com/

3. The United Nations will start negotiating a global nuclear ban treaty in March. A world without nuclear weapons is within our reach. But the UK voted against these negotiations, and will try to obstruct progress, if we don’t act now. Your help is vital in getting the UK to support a global nuclear ban. We need to raise enough funds to continue lobbying the government, print thousands of global ban briefings, and send CND delegates to the UN conference in March.

One of our members has started an e-petition asking the Government to participate in this coming UN conference and it has now been published and is available to all UK citizens and residents to sign. Here is the link: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/175096
After signing please tell your relatives, friends and colleagues, put it on Facebook, Twitter etc – whatever you can do to publicise it as widely as possible. We only have a couple of months to get things moving before the conference.
For more on the UN conference and other related issues see:
http://cnduk.org/cnd-media/campaign-magazine

4.SCNDs December mag is also available http://www.banthebomb.org/index.php/publications/magazine/1897-nuclear-free-magazine-december-2016

5. Another important petition “Presiding Officer of Scottish Parliament: Ban arms traders/dealers from the Scottish Parliament.” and wanted to see if you could help by adding your name.
Our goal is to reach 200 signatures and we need more support. You can read more and sign the petition here:
https://www.change.org/p/presiding-officer-of-scottish-parliament-ban-arms-traders-dealers-from-the-scottish-parliament?recruiter=3359575&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive

6. To help build Youth CND see: http://www.yscnd.org/

7. Opinion has changed. Nuclear disarmament is mainstream. The problem is one of ‘operationalising’ those sentiments, putting pressure on politicians to understand and honour them.” So says Carol Turner, longstanding Labour party member and CND activist, author of Corbyn and Trident: Labour’s continuing controversy. Buy the book: http://www.cnd.org

8. Peace & Justice Bring & Share Festive Lunch. 20 December. 12noon – 2pm.
At the Peace and Justice Centre.5 Upper Bow, Edinburgh. EH1 2JN.
Come along and meet the P&J staff, volunteers and Management Committee. There will be Mulled Wine!
Don’t forget the Cranes Workshops on Saturdays and Burns Supper in January (see earlier posts)

9. Latest NuClear News: http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/nuclearnews/NuClearNewsNo91.pdf

10. Don’t Bank on the Bomb meeting latest minutes are available: email edinburghcnd@yahoo.com for a copy

11. UNFOLD ZERO encourages you to vote for the 2016 Arms Control Person(s) of the Year, organised by the Arms Control Association. Among the nominations are a number of people that have made a considerable impact on nuclear disarmament through the United Nations. They include: The government of the Marshall Islands and former foreign minister Tony de Brum. Mr de Brum is also a Council Member of Parliamentarians for Nuclear non-proliferation and Disarmament, one of the UNFOLD ZERO co-founding organisations. The Marshall Islands played a lead role in the historic 1996 International Court of Justice (ICJ) case on the illegality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons. Then, in 2014, Mr de Brum initiated lawsuits in a U.S. Federal Court against the United States, and in the ICJ against the nine nuclear armed States in an attempt to compel them to implement their obligation to achieve complete nuclear disarmament. Over 5 million people signed a petition endorsing these cases.

12.The monthly vigil of the Scottish Peace Network will be held on Thursday, December 22, from 5-6pm at the Dewar’s statue on Buchanan Street in Glasgow city centre,

13. Trump Selects Former Texas Governor Rick Perry for Secretary of Energy
Albuquerque – The Trump transition team has selected former Texas governor Rick Perry as his administration’s nominee for Secretary of Energy.
+++++++++Trump demo in Edinburgh Friday 20th January 5.30pm Wellington Statue East end of Princes St

December 4, 2016December 10, 2016 edinburghcnd

Edinburgh CND News 4th December

EVENTS IN DECEMBER:

NEW EVENT! We will be having a STALL on Saturday 10th at the East End of Princes Street (in front of Register House). This will start at 12 noon (i.e. earlier than the leafleting event mentioned below). All welcome.

1. Tuesday 6th of December is Edinburgh CNDs (informal) AGM and winter social. 6pm at the Peace and Justice Centre 5 Upper Bow Edinburgh EH1 5JN (all welcome)

2. Conference on Humanitarian and Environmental Impacts & Responsibilities of Hosting Nuclear Weapons Friday 9 December. 9.30am – 5.30pm. Scottish Parliament
Hosted by the United Nations Association, the Cross Party Group on Nuclear Disarmament, and the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy.
In order to attend, you must register through the following link before 5 December. For full details and to register go to: http://peaceandjustice.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6e39b7d66c916d69d27cb405f&id=93231ffd9c&e=c2ba2454a5

3. Saturday 10th December: 1. 1230 leafleting with Edinburgh CND at the East End of Princes Street (in front of Register House)
2. CAAT Street Fundraiser with Protest in Harmony 10th December 2016, 2.20pm – 3.00pm
In front of Sainsbury’s on Rose Street Come have a chat with us and listen to Protest in Harmony’s harmonius yet radical singing. (http://www.protestinharmony.org.uk/wp/)
3. Paper Crane making at the Peace and Justice Centre from 2pm

4.Countering Military Recruitment of Under 18’s Working Group
Monday 12 December. 6 – 8pm.
The Peace and & Justice Centre is inviting anyone interested in getting involved in countering military visits to schools and recruitment of under 18s to come along to an initial meeting of a new working group. The group will meet at the Peace and Justice Centre.

OTHER NEWS:

1. The Jimmy Reid Foundation has produced a new report pulling together all the existing arguments against Trident renewal on moral, economic and military grounds. This report draws heavily on the work of Scottish CND, and particularly the writings of John Ainslie and Alan Mackinnon, and is dedicated to them.
There was a public launch of ‘ Trident and its Successor Programme’, authored by Professor Mike Danson, Karen Gilmore and Dr Geoff Whittam, at the STUC Building, 333 Woodlands Road, Glasgow G3 6NG on Thursday 1 December at 5.30 for 6.00pm, finishing about 7.30pm. The meeting will be chaired by Dave Moxham, Deputy General Secretary, STUC, speakers Mike Danson, Geoff Whittam and Janet Fenton, Vice Chair, SCND. The report covers the moral and philosophical case against renewal, the case for diversification and examines the impact of non-renewal in economic, social and military terms.
An electronic version of the report will soon be available at http://www.reidfoundation.org. Printed copies will also be available from the SCND office at £1.50 minimum donation, or by post for £2.50 including post and package.

2. The clock is ticking ahead of a United Nations conference to negotiate a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. More than 120 countries supported the move in a recent vote, but the UK stubbornly refuses to engage in the process. This stance will leave the UK an international pariah as the vast majority of countries work to outlaw these weapons of mass destruction.Despite paying lip service to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons the UK government has failed to match the words with actions. CND members helped bring the UK to a key conference to discuss the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons in Austria in December 2014 and thousands have already written to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in the past weeks to support the global ban negotiations. With your help we can keep the pressure on the UK government to take part in this vital conference.
Help ban nuclear weapons by writing to Boris Johnson
Please add your name to those who have contacted the Foreign Secretary and called on the UK to take part in the conference, which begins in March 2017 in New York. You can send an email http://cnduk.us12.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=50a46ed98fb9032bd46d11880&id=ee45bbfc67&e=96dcf14be7

3. nuClear News No.90 December 2016 is now available for downloading here:
http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/nuclearnews/NuClearNewsNo90.pdf

4. Regular convoys still carry nuclear warheads along many roads such as the Edinburgh Bypass.ECND objects to the UK’s possession of nuclear weapons and our government not carrying out its obligations under the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty in that it is going ahead with building new nuclear weapons and is not negotiating nuclear disarmament in good faith as required by the treaty.
Inter alia, we are investigating possible legal remedies to this.

5. Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre Dec/Jan newsletter now available http://peaceandjustice.org.uk

6. Drones Campaign: New T-shirts available: https://dronecampaignnetwork.wordpress.com

MEETINGS IN JANUARY

1. Edinburgh CND is experimenting with holding monthly meetings on the first Tuesday of the month rather than the first Monday. There is unlikely to be a January meeting: but watch this space. We will be leafleting on the 2nd Saturday.

2. CAAT Edinburgh quarterly meeting 17th January 2017, 7pm – 8.45pm at Quakers’ Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh EH1 2JL
They will discuss current campaigns, including the national and local campaigns on Yemen, action on arms companies’ presence in Scottish schools and other ideas for action from several sub-meetings that have taken place since the last quarterly meeting.

3. Peace and Justice Burns Supper and Ceilidh Saturday 28 Jan 2017. 6pm Burns Supper. 8 – 11pm Ceilidh King’s Hall. 41A South Clerk Street, EH8 9NZ
Speakers: Alastair Macintosh, others tbc Supper & Ceilidh (supporters) £25 / Standard £20 / Concession £15 Ceilidh Only: Supporters £15 / Standard £10 / Concession £6.50 / Advance concession £5 / under 12 £3.50
Book Tickets at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2716816
or at the Peace and Justice Centre.
A fundraiser for the Edinurgh Peace and Justice Centre organised by Ceilidh Collective

NEWS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES:
1. Prefer Books to Bombs? Austerity is making life hard for young people and students while the government is prioritising nuclear weapons over building a future for young people. Not happy about that? Well get involved with Youth and Student CND now. London YSCND will be officially launching on Thursday 15th December from 8pm at The Hive, Dalston. Expect a fun evening of amazing music to keep you dancing all night, and if that wasn’t enough, we are providing free drinks AND free pizza! Who said saving the world wasn’t fun?!
In part because it has been an election year, with an increasingly lame-duck attitude in the administration, blind momentum has dominated the nuclear weapons business, sort of like a spaceship drifting silently through space — or a warhead. I can therefore suggest that if you want an overview of our work on the issues, you can consult our 2015 fundraising letter, and for that matter the one before that, from late 2014. Neither is obsolete in any important way, except in this: 2016 has been a banner year for progress toward a treaty banning nuclear weapons (see “Historic UN vote to mandate negotiation of treaty banning nuclear weapons” or for more, this page). WOULD ANYONE LIKE TO TRY SOMETHING LIKE THIS IN EDINBURGH?

2. Los Alamos Study Group: What they learned in Washington last month, or what they expect to be key issues in 2017. Of course there will be a fiscal train wreck deluxe — and it will only get worse from here on out. Next year we will hear about some flagrant managerial problems in the nuclear enterprise. We will see increasing detail and commitment to plutonium warhead core (“pit”) production (again). We may hear about the big problems in National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) plans and in DoD nuclear procurements; what forms those revelations will take remain to be seen. When will the momentum break? Or will our society — suddenly, it will seem — become a lotmore militaristic? (For a very cursory preview of a few of these issues see Bulletin 224: New directions in nuclear disarmament).

3. UNFOLD ZERO (Basle) thanks us for our interest and participation during 2016.
Over the year they have organised or promoted a number of nuclear disarmament actions, events and initiatives along with Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), Basel Peace Office and our many other partners.

November 23, 2016December 4, 2016 edinburghcnd

Edinburgh CND News 23rd November

Tuesday 6th of December with our AGM and winter social. 6pm at the Peace and Justice Centre (all welcome).

+++++++++RIC meeting: Campaigning Against the Arms Trade
Wednesday 30 November 2016 7.00pm Augustine United Church, George 1V Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EL
+++++++++SACC anti-islamaphobia conference: Saturday 3rd 11 AM – 5pm
Augustine United Church 41-43 George IV Bridge, EH1 1EL Edinburgh, United Kingdom (also Cranes Workshop 2pm at the Peace and Justice centre)

1. As the Chancellor Philip Hammond set out continuing cuts to public spending and increased debt, CND has released a new report making the economic case against Trident replacement. The People/Jobs not Trident report sets out what the £205 billion the Government plans to spend on a new generation of nuclear weapons could fund instead.
Employ 150,000 new nurses and build 120 state of the art hospitals
Build three million affordable homes
Provide short-term shelter for all in need
Reinstate Education Maintenance Allowance
Provide tuition free education for 7.5 million undergraduates
Build thousands of new primary schools
Install solar panels in every home
Build enough wind turbines to power every home in the UK
Increased funding for overseas development
You can use the CND website to send a copy of the report to your
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said:
“Our report sets out how the new Chancellor can right the wrong that is being done. It contains an alternative set of spending proposals that can address the real problems our society now faces. Whether that’s creating new jobs, investment in the NHS, building homes or the creation of education opportunities that young people deserve.”
The report was launched in Parliament by a cross-party group of MPs including Caroline Lucas, Kelvin Hopkins and Margaret Ferrier.

2. Despite the British government’s best attempts, the United Nations has adopted a resolution agreeing to convene a conference in March 2017 to negotiate a global nuclear ban treaty. 123 countries voted in favour, with only 38 voting against. Those opposed included the UK, the USA, France, Israel and Russia. North Korea voted in favour of the ban conference. The other nuclear states (India, Pakistan and China) abstained. The UK government has repeatedly said that it shares CND’s goal of a nuclear weapons free world, but insists this can only be achieved through a multilateral process. This process is now beginning and the government needs to be a constructive part of it – not trying to derail it. It is vital that Britain is at the table. The international community has united before to ban biological and chemical weapons, land mines and cluster bombs. As the majority of the world is covered by nuclear weapons free zones anyway, a global ban treaty seems like the next logical step. Over 2000 CND supporters have already written to the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. Thank you to everyone who got involved – this ensured that the issue is definitely on his agenda. And now we’ll be building on this campaign to make sure the UK is represented at the talks. Parliamentary CND will be writing to political parties encouraging them to send representatives to the negotiations and to the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee asking for evidence sessions on the issue. We cannot let the UK refuse to participate in this crucial conference – we need to get them round the negotiating table. The British government should rethink its approach and support and participate in the UN global ban conference in 2017.
Conference on Humanitarian and Environmental Impact Responsibilities of Hosting Nuclear Weapons
Friday 9 December 9.30am – 5.30pm. Scottish Parliament
The event is being hosted by the United Nations Association Scotland, UNA Edinburgh, UN House, the Cross Party Group on Nuclear Disarmament, and the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy. Please see the programme attached to this email.
In order to attend, you must register through the following link before December 5th: http://peaceandjustice.us7.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=6e39b7d66c916d69d27cb405f&id=7304d22fd2&e=c2ba2454a5
CND have loads of new and updated materials including leaflets and booklets on Trident, the global ban, NATO, drones etc. For more information or to place an order, please see conduce website.

3. Did you know that trucks carrying nuclear warheads frequently travel across the country? They pass close to towns, villages, schools, hospitals and they may even be passing through your area without you ever knowing it. A recent opinion poll showed that 80% of the population are unaware of the convoys. That’s why CND is calling on our supporters to take part in the nuclear convoys constituency lobby by talking to their MP about this important subject. We need to raise awareness and continue the campaign to make sure these dangerous convoys are taken off the road as quickly as possible. Friday 25 – Saturday 26 November
Read report: Nukes of Hazard – the nuclear bomb convoys on our roads
Book a meeting: use our lobby tool to meet your MP
Let us know about your meeting or get advice by emailing parliamentary@cnduk.org

Edinburgh CND expressed it’s concern over the lack of Labour MPs signing EDM 577 Nuclear Convoys. As of 9.11.2016 3 Labour MPs had signed, 2 SDLP. One Mark Durkan being a sponsor of the motion, 1 Green, Sponsor of the motion, 3 Plaid Cymru, 2 Scottish Independent and 29 SNP MPs. Note two of the Labour MPs constituencies are on or close to convoy routes. We are currently urging our members to Lobby their MPs to sign this motion.

4. This Thursday, the Scotland Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee may make a decision on whether or not to take forward the proposals made by ForcesWatch and Quakers in Scotland.Our proposals call for greater scrutiny and transparency around these visits, guidance being provided to schools to ensure balance and accuracy in the information and views provided.
Numerous organisations and Local Authorities have submitted responses to the Committee, including Scotland’s Children Commissioner, Tam Baillie, who said: ‘There should be clear national guidance about the content of such visits and when and where they are to be conducted…. I am particularly keen, for example, to ensure that young people living in more deprived areas are not disproportionately targeted by such visits.’ You can read the responses here. (See Petitioner Letter of 11 November for the final response from Quakers in Scotland and ForcesWatch).
Forces Watch will be present in the Parliament from 10am
Concurrently with the Petitions Committee inquiry, a motion has been tabled in Holyrood by Christina McKelvie, about the recruitment agenda behind armed forces visits to schools, and about a public health report on the UK armed forces’ recruitment of minors. This report, by global public health charity Medact, looks at the psychological and psychosocial vulnerabilities of adolescents in the context of military recruitment marketing strategies and making long-term risky decisions; and examines the evidence that under 18 recruits face greater risks to health than adult recruits, across the course of an armed forces career. In summary, the report calls for the recruitment age to be raised to 18.
Please do ask your local MSP to sign this motion! You can find the contact information on this page, and see below for some information you might wish to send to them in your personalised message asking them to sign.
If you are interested in getting involved in local advocacy work in Scotland about armed forces recruitment, please do get in touch, so we can link you to others and see how we can support this work. A new working group is starting up in Edinburgh to campaign around military visits to schools and the recruitment of young people into the armed forces, and they will be holding a meeting on 12 December at the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre from 6-8pm.
There is also an Early Day Motion (694) before the UK Parliament. Please ask your MP to sign:
That this House notes the contents of the Medact Report into the effects of the recruitment of minors by the UK armed forces, published in October 2016; further notes the report’s findings that child recruits are more vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol abuse, self-harm, suicide, death and injury during an armed forces career when compared to either their demographically-matched civilian peers or adult recruits; notes that the report concludes that the current practices for recruiting minors into the UK armed forces do not meet the criteria for full and informed consent, in part due to the fact that adolescents’ cognitive and psychosocial development make them unfairly susceptible to military recruitment marketing; notes that the report’s conclusion states that those recruited as children, on turning 18, are more likely than adult recruits to end up in frontline combat roles which carry greater risks than other roles; recalls the repeated condemnation of UK armed forces’ recruitment of minors by national child rights experts and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Deepcut Review’s recommendation that the minimum enlistment age should be reviewed; notes the growing body of independent research evidencing significant detrimental outcomes for the youngest recruits; and calls on the Government to launch a review of the minimum armed forces enlistment age.

5. The British Government unilateral decided to deny the Chagossians the right to return to live in the Chagos. https://www.theguardian.com/…/chagos-islanders-cannot-retur…
See our Facebook page for copy of the official communique of the mauritian Government and a letter to contact the African Commission on Nuclear Energy which is an outcome of LALIT’s Second Conference on Diego garcia

Other events:
1. Prisoners for Peace: Letter Writing Thursday 1 December. 11am – 1pm.
Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre 5 Upper Bow, Edinburgh EH1 2JN
Each year on 1st December the Peace and Justice Centre joins with War Resisters’ International to mark Prisoners for Peace Day, All invited to join us at the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre on 1 December from 11am – 1pm to write a letter or card to a peace prisoner. We will provide details of prisoners, paper and cards and suggested guidelines for what to write and what not to write.

2. Youth and Student CND rally Thursday 24th November 6.30pm
The Venue, Student Central, Malet Street, London

News from other organisations:

1. Drone Campaign November Newsletter: https://dronecampaignnetwork.wordpress.com

2. Los Alamos Study Special Post-Election Bulletin 225: President-Elect Trump; letter to colleagues in government http://lasg.org/wordpress/

3. The Nonlethal Security for Peace Campaign Newsletter – November 2016
website: http://www.nonlethalsecurityforpeace.com

4. We also have an update from our friends in Australia https://walkingforcountry.com/walkatjurra-walkabout/walkatjurra-walkabout-updates/

5. The monthly Glasgow vigil held by the Scottish Peace Network will take place on Thursday, November 24 from 5 to 6 pm at the Dewar’s statue on Buchanan Street in Glasgow city centre. We will bring a banner, placards and flyers. ALSO: Spirit of Revolt – Archives of Dissent Raffle prizes request plus letter to Jeremy Corbyn re white poppies

6. Lacuna Magazine – http://www.lacuna.org.uk/
A Very British Scandal:
A 7-part special series investigating the realities behind the Iraq allegations.
Government and media have denied, dismissed and derided allegations of abuse by British soldiers in Iraq. And yet despite all the political and media pressure the Iraq allegations haven’t gone away. Lacuna tells the story as you haven’t heard it before.

7. Café Palestine
Sunday 27 November. 4pm. Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre
Speaker: Nick Evans who visited the West bank for the first time earlier this year. His talk will be based on his first impressions as a professional town planner.

8. Edinburgh STW supports SACC conference “Islamophobia Conference 2016: The Environment of Hate and the Police State” at the Augustine Church, Saturday 3 Dec, organised jointly by SACC and IHRC (Islamic Human Rights Commission).

++++9.Uniting for Peace Interfaith Event Globalisation – Faith and Peace
Saturday 26 Nov. 7:15 – 9:15pm Exploring Implications of a Globalised World for Faith and Peace Speakers: Imam Hassan Rabbani (Annandale St Mosque)
Prof Paul Weller (Oxford & Coventry Universities)

November 8, 2016November 23, 2016 edinburghcnd

Edinburgh CND News 8th November

STOP PRESS: Edinburgh CND will be leafleting on Saturday 19th November. 1230pm East end of Princes Street. Do join us if you can. ALSO SEE END for Sunday event
Monday 21st Edinburgh Stop the War meeting 7.30pm at the Quaker Meeting House

1. Some of us will gather at the East End of Princes Street at 5 pm on Friday for a quiet vigil of commemoration and hope for a peaceful world. Candles in jam jars would be good, as well as appropriate banners/placards.
Edinburgh CND invite all supporters.

2. The Scottish CND AGM takes place on Saturday, 12th November at Friends Meeting House, Elmbank Street, Charing Cross, Glasgow.
Registration is at 10 am and meeting starts at 10.30 am. Motions and amendments are available at banthebomb.org

3. We will not be holding our monthly leafletting on the 12th. However, Edinburgh Stop the War will be at the East End of Princes Street for a Syria vigil: Saturday 12th November – anti-war day of action, stop bombing Syria, stop the spread of war. Join us at 1pm at the east end of Princes Street. ++++There will also be an anti-trump demo starting 1pm at St Giles and marching to USA consulate.

4. November’s Scottish WILPF Meeting will be an open meeting on Monday 14th all welcome.
‘We can Ban Nuclear Weapons’ Quaker Meeting House, 7, Victoria Terrace Edinburgh
7 pm to 9 pm . See http://lasg.org/wordpress/ for good background and also:

5. November 2016 edition of CND’s Campaign magazine. Still delighted about the news on the upcoming UN conference to establish a treaty banning nuclear weapons, which will take place in New York in March. We’re less happy with the news that the government wants to go ahead with building a new power station at Hinkley however. Both of these issues are covered in this month’s magazine, with Parliamentary CND Chair Caroline Lucas MP writing about nuclear energy. See http://www.cnduk.org/

6. Early day motion 577 Nuclear convoys : please ask your MP to sign
To date only 3 English MPs have signed this important notion and that includes the primary sponsor Caroline Lucas. The other two their constituencies are on or very near convoy routes. (See previous post for more background)
The convoy routes are on Nukewatch website http://www.nukewatch.org.uk/?page_id=25
Please ask your MP to sign the motion and ask any friends in England to contact their MP.

7. The street fundraising event for Edinburgh CAAT with Protest in Harmony has been confirmed and will take place on 10th December at 2pm on Rose Street, next to Sainsbury’s.

8. The Hammer Blow: How ten women disarmed a warplane.
7:00 – 9:00pm. Wednesday 16 November Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre
5 Upper Bow, Edinburgh EH1 2JN
Booktalk by Author and Disarmament Activist Andrea Needham.
Andrea Needham’s gripping inside account of how ten women disarmed a Hawk jet bound for genocide in East Timor – and were acquitted. Marking the 20th anniversary of the historic Seeds of Hope Ploughshares action.

9. And away from Edinburgh (thanks to the Scottish Peace Network):
A.There are 2 events in Glasgow on Friday. One at the same time as the Edinburgh one (see 1 above) and they will also meet at 10:45am on George Square to place a wreath of white poppies at the cenotaph at 11. This was the hour on November 11, 1918 that the war finally ended.
See also: http://www.redpepper.org.uk/the-arms-trade-must-be-kept-out-of-remembrance-day/
B.Bridge of Peace event on Saturday 19th Nov 2016 at Partick Burgh hall, C.Glasgow, Mull and Iona friends have been concerned about the plight of the children in the Calais jungle and now camps, and have asked Quaker Council for European Affairs for information and advice.
Mike Shilson wrote to Kate McNally of QCEA as follows:
I was distressed to read your account of the Children of Calais:
https://qceablog.wordpress.com/2016/10/29/the-children-of-calais/

A Light for Aleppo
5pm. Sunday 20 November
Brazier Lightings at:
Pittsville St Lane Beach, Portobello
Regent St & Portobello Promenade.
Cramond Beach
As the dark nights begin to draw in, communities will gather along the Firth of Forth in Scotland and in other sites around the world to light lights of hope for those besieged in Aleppo. Join in wherever you are, or light candles in your own homes.
For details of more Locations of A Light for Aleppo events or to create an event wherever you are see: http://www.alightforaleppo.org/

October 30, 2016November 8, 2016 edinburghcnd

Edinburgh CND News 30th October 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other News:

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

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

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

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

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

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

October 19, 2016October 26, 2016 edinburghcnd

Edinburgh CND news 19th October. Updates 22nd/26th

******Join Edinburgh Stop the War at their stall 1 – 3pm on Saturday 29th October at the east end of Princes street where we’ll be joining with friends from ECND, SWILPF and the always present Women in Black to sell White Poppies****

It is with great sadness that we report the news that John Ainslie, co-ordinator of Scottish CND for over 25 years, passed away, Friday 21st October.
John made a remarkable contribution to Scottish CND and the wider peace movement during his lifetime.
He produced outstanding reports which made the case against nuclear weapons in a way which carried authority and respect across the political spectrum.
John ran the Scottish CND office for many years and he was a tireless organiser of events and activities all aimed at making the case for a nuclear weapons free world.
Scottish CND and the wider peace movement have today lost a massively influential figure and friend who will be sadly missed. .
We are immensely grateful to John for his intellectual vigour, organisational and strategic skills, and sheer commitment he gave to our organisation over so many years.

Any condolences and messages of sympathy sent to the office will be collected and sent to John’s family.

1. The United Nations is currently considering a proposal to begin negotiations on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. This important initiative comes from the UN’s Open-Ended Working Group on Nuclear Disarmament – supported by the majority of states across the world but boycotted by the UK.
ask your MSP to support Motion S5M-01986
Right now the United Nations First Committee is debating the setting up of a conference next year to negotiate a nuclear weapons ban treaty. In spite of the nuclear weapons states including the UK putting pressure on non nuclear states more and more are speaking up to co-sponsor the resolution. There will be a vote on it next month and campaigners who are present are hopeful of it passing.
Ask your MSP to support Motion on a Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty.
In spite of the nuclear weapons states including the UK putting pressure on non nuclear states more and more are speaking up to co-sponsor the resolution. There will be a vote on it next month and campaigners who are present are hopeful of it passing.
Meanwhile Alison Johnson MSP has tabled a motion at the Scottish Parliament in support of this huge leap forward towards a nuclear free world. Pleasevcontact your MSPs and ask them to support motion S5M-01986.
More information on at http://scraptrident.org/ and on Scrap Trident Facebook page.
A huge number of CND supporters have written to Boris Johnson calling on the UK Government to back the initiative. In 2014 CND supporters forced the Government into a u-turn on attending an anti-nuclear conference in Vienna and with your help we can secure another victory.
There is still time to write to the Foreign Secretary and make your voice heard on this crucial issue. You can email Boris Johnson through the CND website.
(more information at the end of this posting)

++++++2.Job Opening with WEA Scotland
Education Coordinator – ‘Bringing to life the meaning of Conscientious Objection across Scotland’ Project
Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the WEA are seeking a dynamic Education Co-ordinator to develop and lead an exciting new educational project: ‘Bringing to life the meaning of Conscientious Objection across Scotland’. This national project will focus on the Scottish legacy of those who conscientiously objected to the first world war and will be centred on three specific geographical areas, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

3. Nuclear warheads are frequently driven through the UK, passing towns and villages, travelling past schools and hospitals. A recent report by the Nukes of Hazard project found that there have been a large number of incidents involving these convoys.CND is part of the campaign to raise awareness of these convoys and calls on the government to take action to stop them. Working with others CND is organising a lobby of MPs in their constituencies on 25 and 26 November in order to highlight the issues and call for action to be taken.

4. Email Theresa May, Amber Rudd, MPs, MSPs for the Calais children.
Please take a few minutes to send emails to the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary urging them to take in all the unaccompanied children immediately. For model letters and links to their addresses to send emails go to http://peaceandjustice.org.uk/get-involved/take-action/
You can also find there a model email to send to your MSPs to ask them to support a resolution calling on the UK to admit the Calais children.
Stella Creasy MP today. Yesterday she told the Prime Minister that 18 of the 178 children in the Calais refugee camp who have the right to be in the UK with their family have gone missing. Her Government has known about these children since July 2016. Please ask her to track down these children and protect all those remaining in the refugee camp who have the right to be in Britain as the French begin demolishing the camp.

5. Anti-nuclear campaigners have condemned Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith’s announcement that Labour will not review its Trident policy before the general election. Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said: “This is a very poor and irresponsible decision for Britain’s future security. “In refusing to revisit its Trident policy, the Labour Party has missed a huge opportunity to set out a defence policy fit for the 21st century.

6. October Drones Campaign News: https://dronecampaignnetwork.wordpress.com/

7. Nonviolent Resistance to the Nazis.Book Talk with author Geroge Paxton
7 – 9pm. Tuesday 25 October. Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre.
5 Upper Bow, Edinburgh EH1 2JN. George Paxton is a Trustee of The Gandhi Foundation whose aim is to spread knowledge of Gandhi and his ideas mainly in the UK. He edits their quarterly journal, The Gandhi Way, and is the author of ‘Sonja Schlesin: Gandhi’s South African Secretary’. End note: if you would like to use the desks or meeting space at the P and J contact them for details.

8. Politicians, activists, and members of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament will gather in Manchester this weekend for the campaign’s annual conference. Exploring how campaigners will work together to abolish nuclear weapons, CND Conference 2016 will hear from Rebecca Long-Bailey, who is shadow chief secretary to the treasury and MP for Salford and Eccles; Aaron Bastani, founder of Novara Media; as well as speakers from the Campaign Against Arms Trade, Nuclear Free Local Authorities, and others.
Conference: New political times, new campaigning methods?
Sun 23 October 2016 10:00 – 15:00 The Mechanics Centre, 103 Princess Street, Manchester M1 6DD Our open conference in Manchester this Sunday promises to be a very important event to reflect on these fast changing political times.

9. Film Screening & Discussion The Man who Saved the World, 17 Nov, 6:45 – 9:00 pm Grosvenor Cinema, Ashton Lane, Glasgow

10. Next Scottish peace network meeting was agreed for Tuesday Oct 25 at 2pm
White poppy stalls will take place on Friday Oct 28 (Glasgow) and Saturday Oct 29 starting at 12 noon (Edinburgh). Thursday, October 27, from 5 to 6 pm at Dewar’s statue on Buchanan Street in Glasgow centre there is a peace vigil.

+++++=11.Resolutions have been submitted for discussion at the Scottish CND AGM (Sat, 12 Nov, Friends Meeting House, Glasgow, 10 am). Including 2 from ECND.
Any amendments to these motions should be emailed to the Scottish CND office by Saturday Nov 5th at 12 noon. Contact Edinburgh CND for further details

++++++12. New CND Xmas card by artist Neil Burridge.
You can get a pack of six, with envelopes, for just £4.

MORE ON THE UN TALKS
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) will brief the media on the likely adoption by the UN General Assembly of a resolution (draft available here) to begin negotiations in 2017 on a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons.
On Thursday, 13 October, a cross-regional group of nations formally submitted a draft resolution to the First Committee of the UN General Assembly to establish a mandate for negotiations in 2017 on a “legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.
The resolution acts on a recommendation made in August by a UN open-ended working group on nuclear disarmament in Geneva. More than 100 nations participated in the working group, with an overwhelming majority expressing their support for the prohibition of nuclear weapons as a first step towards elimination.
Co-sponsors of the resolution include Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa. We expect that it will be adopted with strong support, on a date between 26 October and 2 November.
The resolution proposes two negotiating conferences to be held over 20 days in March, June and July 2017, at the UN Headquarters in New York. All UN member states, along with international organizations and members of civil society, will be invited to participate. The negotiations could continue into 2018.
A treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons would close the “legal gap” in the existing regime governing nuclear weapons. It is an anomaly that these are the only weapons of mass destruction not yet prohibited under international law in a comprehensive and universal manner.
Chemical weapons, biological weapons, anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions are all expressly prohibited. Most nations agree the prohibition of nuclear weapons is the only appropriate course of action in light of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of their use.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a global coalition of more than 400 non-governmental organizations in 100 nations, working to establish a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons. It was launched in 2007 and has its headquarters in Geneva.
Friday’s briefing is an opportunity for media to learn more about the draft UN resolution, the likely effect of the proposed treaty, how the negotiations might play out in 2017, and who is in favour of and against a ban An historic UN Resolution on “Taking forward multilateral disarmament negotiations” that is being tabled at the United Nations General Assembly this month to mandate the start of negotiations in 2017 on a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons. This resolution has been put forward by Austria, Mexico, South Africa, Ireland, Brazil and Nigeria following the recommendation of a UN Working Group, at which the overwhelming majority of states supported the call for ban treaty negotiations in 2017.
SCND Secretary, Janet Fenton, has been involved in discussions within United Nations structures which have taken place over the last years and she will be in New York in the next few days to take part in further UN related discussions.
For people based in Glasgow SCND will be holding a briefing session on Oct 25th to report back on the progress on the journey towards a global ban on nuclear weapons. ++++Edinburgh 14th November Quaker Meeting House, 7, Victoria Terrace
Edinburgh 7-9pm+++. For all the rest we will try to keep you up to date with articles on the website, emails and social media feeds. There is also article in Bella Caledonia

And lastly we have been asked to draw attention to ‘The Cultural Left’ a progressive cultural movement based in London. The Cultural Left movement has been formed as a respond to the everyday concerns and awareness of the vast majority of the people working in the Arts, Cultural and Creative Industries and sectors.
We also get frequent updates from Australia.

October 5, 2016October 17, 2016 edinburghcnd

Edinburgh CND news 5th October 2016 UPDATED 9th and 15th

Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition at the Edinburgh World Justice Festival
War and Refugees 7.30pm – 9.30pm, Monday 17 October With Roza Salih

AND ON TUESDAY: Vigil for Calais Refugee Children Event Tuesday in Edinburgh ? & Come along! https://www.facebook.com/events/204306746646727/

STOP BOMBING ALEPPO – Russia/US hands off SyriaAs left activists call on Jeremy Corbyn to speak out on Syria, Edinburgh Stop the War called a picket of the Russian consulate for an hour on Tuesday 11 October from 5.30 to 6.30 pm, 58 Melville Street, EH3 7HF FB event at https://www.facebook.com/events/1670073029975771/
Join us in calling for an immediate halt to the bombing. Read the Scottish Stop the War Statement at https://scotlandstopwar.org/2016/09/29/statement-on-syria/

On Saturday 8th October Edinburgh CND will have a Stall at the East End of Princes Street (outside register house) from 12 to 1pm.
After that we will be moving to the Augustine United Church where we will have a joint stall at the following event:

Migration Gathering- Challenging Myths: Respond Positiviely
When:Saturday 8th October, 1:30-6:30pm
Where:Augustine United Church, EH1 1EL
Organised by Edinburgh World Justice Festival (EWJF). Workshop to learn more about the issues and chart ways forward. Join together with migrants, asylum seekers, settled refugees and those who advocate for them for an afternoon to explore what people in Edinburgh can do. For details, updates and full festival programme see http://www.ewjf.org.uk/ andhttps://www.facebook.com/ewjf1/ on Facebook

On Monday 3rd we held our own EWJF meeting on Jeju Island and the Chagos Islands. We will be continuing with developing actions around this theme at our next meeting on the 7th November.

There is still 12 days of the EWJF to go. Other events we will be present at include:

1. Scottish Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Migration: giving women a voice 7.30pm – 9.30pm, Monday 10 October
Laila Alodaat talking about WILPF’s international work

2. David Rovics gig Wednesday, October 12 at 8 PM – 11 PM
The Canons’ Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh Tickets still available

3. Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition
War and Refugees 7.30pm – 9.30pm, Monday 17 October With Roza Salih

STOP PRESS: ICJ turns down Marshall Islands plea
CND regrets this morning’s judgement by the International Court of Justice on the United Kingdom’s nuclear disarmament obligations. Judges threw out a case brought by the Marshall Islands that said the UK, in failing to get rid of its nuclear weapons, was in breach of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The ICJ agreed with the UK’s objection to the case, in which they claimed to be unaware of a dispute with the Marshall Islands on this issue, a legal requirement to proceed.
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said: “The Marshall Islands is one of the main victims of nuclear weapons and has suffered greatly from other states testing warheads over their country. From 1948 – 1956 the United States detonated 67 nuclear weapons test explosions over the Marshall Islands. Several islands were vaporized, others will remain uninhabitable for thousands of years. Many Marshallese died, babies were born with birth defects never seen before, and residents of the islands are still battling with cancers and other radiation-related diseases. It is no wonder that they want to see an end to nuclear weapons. “If the ICJ fails to properly consider their case, where do the Marshallese go to seek justice? The UK signed the NPT almost fifty years ago, committing to enter negotiations to get rid of its nuclear weapons. Instead, the government is in the process of spending at least £205 billion on new nuclear weapons – with the metal cutting tragically starting today. A mechanism is needed to ensure compliance with this international treaty, as currently the UK is dodging its obligations.”

OTHER NEWS:

1. Anti-nuclear campaigners have condemned Shadow Defence Secretary Clive Lewis’ comments on Trident in his speech at Labour Party conference 2016 . Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said:
“Clive Lewis stated that Labour will now prioritise support for multilateral disarmament initiatives. All well and good but what use is that if Labour fails to oppose Trident replacement? How can Labour claim to work for multilateral disarmament if it supports the government building a new nuclear weapons system at a cost of £205 Billion? This means Labour is supporting nuclear rearmament. More news available here: https://gallery.mailchimp.com/50a46ed98fb9032bd46d11880/files/October_2016.pdf
+++++++reminder:. It’s that time of the year when CND reviews its work and sets the campaigning priorities for the year ahead. Conference 2016 will take place in Manchester on the 22nd and 23rd October and is hosted by Greater Manchester & District CND (if you’re a member of CND there’s still time to register for the AGM.)

2. The latest edition of Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre News is available here: http://peaceandjustice.org.uk/

3. Shetland to Scilly – New Technologies for Peace Journey is now complete. See the full story here:
http://www.shetlandtoscillyforpeace.com

4. LOS ALAMOS STUDY GROUP This is the first Bulletin in a long time. It has been truly difficult to keep up this summer. Please visit http://www.lasg.org for recent talks and pertinent press “clippings” as well as the Study Group blog, Forget the Rest. An essay (“Sustainability Requires Resistance”), written for the forthcoming issue of Solar Times, was published there today. If you are interested in our local work you will see more of it in our local letters; by all means come to one or more of these events.
+++++++STOP PRESS Bulletin 222: UN debate on banning nuclear weapons begins; 127 or more countries in favor so far

5. UNFOLD ZERO, World Future Council and the International Peace Bureau invited parliamentarians, peace advocates, tourists and others in Berlin to ‘help prevent a nuclear missile from being launched’ in front of the German parliament Chain Reaction 2016 culminates on October 2, which is Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday and which has been affirmed by the United Nations as the International Day for Nonviolence.

6. NEW POST: This month Lacuna magazine’s Editor in Chief A. T. Williams tells the story of widespread allegations of abuses by British soldiers in Iraq in Hear No Evil See No Evil: The UK and the Iraq Allegations. He has followed these events for a number of years in Lacuna, in other news outlets, and in his award winning book about the killing of one Iraqi detainee, Baha Mousa. In recent weeks and months the national newspapers have returned to these stories. But is the current furore just another stage in the failure of the UK government to find out the truth of what really happened in Iraq?

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