On 25 April, campaigners from all over Wales took part in a demonstration against plans to build a military academy at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan. Courses at the proposed academy will train any military or security personnel who can pay. St Athan will be an institution whose purpose is to profit from violence and war.
CND Cymru is particularly concerned that those training for nuclear warfare will do so in our nuclear-free nation.
Chair of CND Cymru, Jill Evans, said: “We in Wales have the skills and the potential to be a real driving force for peace in the world. Instead the British government is making us the centre of training for war, putting that training in the hands of multinational arms companies.”
The creation of St Athan was announced as a done deal in January 2007. Despite the fact the academy represented the biggest Public Finance Initiative in history, involving at least £14 billion of taxpayers’ money, there had been no public debate in Westminster, in the Senedd, nor most importantly, with the people of Wales.
In the latest action of a determined nationwide campaign, people opposed to St Athan made their voices heard on the streets of Cardiff.