A county-wide campaign against the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system has taken off in Somerset.
Following a talk by Bruce Kent in Bridgwater, eight Somerset peace/CND groups formed a campaign coalition. Towns around the county will be targeted, with supporters handing out leaflets about Trident and collecting signatures for the CND Petition Against Trident Renewal. They started in Taunton, which does not have an anti-war/anti-nuclear group. However, due to the campaigning, it seems a group will form, especially as the local Quakers have offered free use of their Meeting House! As well as street campaigning, there will be other events to raise the issue and educate the public.
Pushing the debate
In Dorset, Yeovil and Sherborne Stop the War hosted a debate in March about Britain's Nuclear Deterrent, with Bruce Kent facing West Dorset's Tory MP Oliver Letwin. A serious subject laced with Bruce's wit, so even Oliver admitted that he was enjoying himself.
One hopes that he also left with a greater understanding of the anti-nuclear argument, as his justification for keeping a nuclear deterrent was that the world was full of “good” guys and “bad” guys, and we must be able to threaten the bad guys into peace.