Nuclear weapons

Faslane Peace Camp has an urgent shortage of campers, with only two full-time residents who are moving on after two years at the camp. Previous residents are organising a provisional rota but a longer-term solution with fresh input is needed. The Faslane peace camp, on the doorstep of the Trident nuclear submarine base north of Glasgow, presents a wonderful opportunity for a campaign of action against the storage and deployment of nuclear weapons. More info: 01436 820 901.

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Scottish CND held a post-election conference in Glasgow on 15 May to discuss the consequences for lobbying against Trident renewal in the new parliamentary world of the Lib-Con alliance.

Initial gate

John Ainslie, SCND co-ordinator, started with the projected timescales and costs of Trident replacement. According to the MoD’s 2006 guidelines, the design phase of Trident renewal should have commenced last year. However, the “initial gate” decision which would have given the…

On 8 April, while helping to launch the new US nuclear posture review (NPR), state department official Robert Einhorn laughed as he said: “there’ll be a lot of Iranian propaganda that this whole thing is about an implicit threat to Iran. It’s not about an implicit threat to Iran.” As radical journalist Claud Cockburn used to say, “Never believe anything until it’s been officially denied.”

At its core, the nuclear posture review announced on 6 April says two things. First: if you…

Two issues ago, in the run-up to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference taking place this month in New York, we ran an article called: “The very, very least we should demand of the NPT”.

That article raised the issue of “negative security assurances” (NSAs), guarantees that nuclear weapons will not be used on non-nuclear-weapon states: “It is an absolute scandal that this is not part of the NPT. It is an absolute scandal that the nuclear disarmament…

Recent opinion polls suggest an increased likelihood of the 6 May general election resulting in a hung parliament, something last seen in 1974. In order to avoid this, one party must win a minimum of 326 seats. The Labour party will forfeit its absolute majority if it loses 24 seats; the Conservatives will only achieve an absolute majority if they gain 116 seats. Otherwise, a hung parliament results and smaller parties gain value as the two major parties try to pass legislation.
…

Hundreds of peace activists were arrested in a coordinated set of actions at nuclear weapon bases in seven countries on 3 April, a European day of action to ban nuclear weapons.
In Belgium, hundreds succeeded in entering Kleine Brogel air force base, leading to 431 arrests. In Holland, there was a 200-strong demo at Volkel nuclear weapons base. In France, there was a citizens’ inspection of Mont de Marsan air force base, with 13 people getting inside.
In Scotland, Trident…

The Faslane naval base, home of the UK’s nuclear weapons and a regular site of protest and nonviolent direct action, saw demonstrations on 3 April as part of a European day of action against nuclear weapons (see p3).

With the impending general election, the opportunity arose to keep the issue of Trident in the spotlight.

The symbolic blockade at North Gate was followed on 6 April by a more direct action approach by Trident Ploughshares, who blockaded the base with lock-ons,…

Five years ago, I went to visit [the former Labour Party leader] Michael Foot, when I was writing a history of CND. He was kind, witty and utterly committed to nuclear disarmament. His vision for nuclear abolition, here and internationally, was far-sighted.

It cannot have been lost on him that many of his views, for which he had been so pilloried in the past, are now common currency at the highest levels and across the political spectrum.

We talked about his role in…

On 18 March, peace activists Sylvia Boyes and Mary Millington were found guilty of the criminal act of painting words on a rock (near the Faslane nuclear submarine base) on 22 August 2009. The words were: “Scots! Say no to Trident.” The pair were each fined £50.

More than 500 activists shut down access to the Aldermaston nuclear bomb factory in Berkshire on 15 February to protest against the expansion of the Atomic Weapons Establishment’s research, design and testing of advanced nuclear warheads – without parliamentary approval.

Beginning at 6.30am, demonstrators, including Nobel Peace Prize winners Jody Williams and Mairead Maguire, prevented workers from entering all eight gates for nearly four hours.

Reading Gate was…

At the War Resisters’ International Triennial in Ahmedabad, I met a 100%, thorough-going Indian unilateralist. He’s spent his life critiquing the Indian nuclear power programme and, since India acquired the Bomb, arguing for unilateral nuclear disarmament.

He’s the kind of person who, in Britain, would be fervently supportive of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and trying to use it as leverage to force the major powers towards the abolition of nuclear weapons. When…

A vigil was held at Faslane Naval Base on 15 February in solidarity with the Aldermaston blockaders’ action that day. The vigil was called by Faslane Peace Camp and neighbouring Helensburgh CND. Renfrewshire CND also joined the protest, which marched with banners and flags from the peace camp down to the north gate of the naval base, which is home to all of the UK’s nuclear weapons. A presence was maintained during the shift change at the base.

Subcontractors

Being at…

At the 15 February Big Blockade of the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), the Welsh were assigned to Construction Gate, one of the most important gates for vehicle access in the coming months.

The Welsh started arriving around 6am. Around 6.30am, vans with internationals arrived, followed quickly by more Welsh groups and Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhists.

People with metal lock-on tubes and a very effective lock-on drum of four positioned themselves in the…

This May, parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty will meet for a full review conference. International youth will be represented there through “Ban All Nukes Generation” (BANg). The youth will make a speech calling for Obama to earn his Nobel peace prize, and asking other world leaders to have the courage to act so that young people will not be left the legacy of nuclear weapons, which they had no hand in creating.

Young people everywhere are encouraged to contribute to…