Walter Wolfgang wins Ron Todd Peace Prize

Walter Wolfgang receiving his award at the Marx Memorial Library

London CND executive committee member Walter Wolfgang was awarded the 2018 Ron Todd Peace Prize at a ceremony on 10 March. A life-long campaigner for nuclear disarmament and an organiser of the first Aldermaston march, Walter would whole-heartedly approve of the Ron Todd Foundation’s motto: you don’t have power if you surrender your principles – you have office.

Ron Todd was a London lad who left school at 14. He joined the Transport and General Workers Union, the predecessor of today’s Unite union, when he worked at the Walthamstow Ford factory and became the union’s general secretary in 1985 until he retired in1992.

The TGWU was one of the earliest affiliate of CND, and continued to promote nuclear disarmament under his leadership.  Ron became a Vice President of CND until his death in 2005.

CND at 60 book launch

CND General Secretary Kate Hudson launched her new book, CND at 60: Britain’s most enduring mass movement, at Friends House in London. In conversation with Victoria Brittain, she discussed what prompted her to update CND’s history and read passages from her book before answering audience questions.

The launch date – 8 March, International Women’s Day – was well chosen. Women have played an important role in CND and the wider peace movement from the very beginning. This includes London CND’s own Pat Arrowsmith, nowadays a CND UK Vice Chair, an organiser of the first march to Aldermaston and prominent in the Committee of 100.

You can purchase a copy of the book here. 

London CND joins Saudi visit protest

LRCND committee members Helen and Hannah

London CND was out in force on 7 March to protest Mohammad bin Salman’s state visit at the invitation of Theresa May, including London CND Vice Chair Hannah Kemp-Welch and EC Member Helen Toomey pictured here. Hundreds of protesters gathered at Downing Street to say ‘Crown Prince Not Welcome’.

Shadow International Development Secretary Kate Osamor spoke at the rally, as did MPs Andy Slaughter, Chris Williamson, and others. The Green Party was represented by Deputy Leader Amelia Womack, and Sinn Fein by Joe Dwyer. Earlier in the day Jeremy Corbyn made a strong statement in parliament denouncing Saudi’s abysmal human rights record.

The arms that Britain sells to Saudi Arabia have been used in its war on Yemen, a war that’s sparked what the UN describes as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. As Defence Minister, the Crown Prince has led that war. When the Prime Minister Theresa May invited him over, an ad hoc committee got together, including London CND Chair, Carol Turner, to organise a series of activities in opposition to the visit.

These included a parliamentary petition calling for the invitation to be withdrawn which attracted 11,863 signatures. Under parliamentary rules the government is required to respond if a petition is supported by 10,000 people. In response, the Foreign Office issued a statement claiming, among other things:

• ‘Regular engagement is a vital part of our strong relationship with Saudi Arabia, which is important for mutual security and prosperity and includes meaningful discussion on reform and human rights’;

• ‘The longstanding partnership between Saudi Arabia and the UK has helped make both of our countries safer and more prosperous’;

• ‘The Crown Prince has embarked on a series of reforms to modernise society and the economy’; and

• ‘Our starting point for engagement on human rights with all countries is based on what is practical, realistic and achievable…’

The ad hoc committee issued a repudiation. You can read both on the Stop the War website.

Green Party Deputy Leader Amelia Womack

The success of the committee shows what can be achieved when peace organisations come together with progressive Arab organisations.

The committee included Campaign Against the Arms Trade, Global Justice, Peace Pledge Union, Stop the War and War on Want, as well Arab Organisation for Human Rights UK, the Bahrain Opposition Bloc, BIRD, Human Rights for Yemen, Iraqi Democrats, Sheba for Democracy and Human Rights, Stop the War. Its success in part lies in the collaboration between UK peace organisations and progressive groups from the region. Watch this space for news of futher action.

Campaigners Rebut British Government Defence of Saudi Crown Prince Visit

Theresa May has invited the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to visit Britain on the 7th-9th March. Bin Salman is the second most senior member of the Saudi regime. He currently oversees the bombing of Yemen, which has caused what the UN has called "the worst humanitarian crisis in the world". The Saudi regime has supported repression in Bahrain, imposed a blockade on Qatar, and detained the Lebanese Prime Minister.

A parliamentary petition urging the government to cancel the visit has attracted over 11,500 signatures, which means it qualified for a debated in parliament. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office made a response claiming that that engagement with the Saudi dictatorship has made ‘both of our countries safer and more prosperous’ and asserting that human rights must be ‘practical, realistic and achievable’.  You can read the response and the reply from groups opposing the visit here. 

 Early Day Motion 865 on the proposed visit has been supported by a number of Labour MPs. Ask your local MP to do likewise. You can read the motion and list of supporters here. 

CND at 60

2018 is the 60th anniversary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Founded in 1958 at the height of the Cold War, CND has been a powerful collective voice against the dangers of nuclear weapons. Our founding meeting took place on the 17th February 1958 at the Central Hall, Westminster.

You can find all the information about the 60th Anniversary events and activities on the CND UK website.

London celebrates CND at 60

Bruce Kent (front row, right) was the guest speaker at London CND's March to Aldermaston - CND at 60 event

London CND celebrated the Campaign’s 60th anniversary on Saturday 17 February, with a film show hosted by Sands Film Club, Rotherhithe. Forty to fifty people attended the March to Aldermaston: CND at 60 event. Referring to the Lindsey Anderson documentary of the 1958 Easter march to the Aldermaston bomb-making factory, guest speaker Bruce Kent (front row, right) explained: ‘I was a humble London curate at the time. It wasn’t until later that I became convinced about the issue of nuclear weapons.’ Olivier Stockman who runs Sands Studios with colleague Christine Edzard, noted that the two short films he also showed – Genie in a bottle unleashed and Embrace! a world free of nuclear weapons – were chosen from the UN library of films which advocate a nuclear free world.

Lindsey Anderson’s short documentary of the three-day Ban the Bomb march of Easter 1958, narrated by Richard Burton, enjoys landmark status as a campaigning documentary. It was a milestone too for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which emerged onto the political stage as an organisation capable of uniting disparate political currents and concerned citizens from across the country.

The volunteers responsible for the film organised the Film and Television Committee for Nuclear Disarmament, brought together a range of skills across the film industry to make an impressive and professional piece of documentary footage. Lindsey Anderson was the dominant influence, who became the acknowledged leader of Free Cinema, a British documentary revival of the 1950s which prefigured the British New Wave movement. March to Aldermaston is included in the British Film Institute’s box set, Free Cinema, available from http://shop.bfi.org.uk/

You can watch a clip from March to Aldermaston here.

The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review explained!

On Friday, the Pentagon unveiled the US’s 2018 Nuclear Posture Review, a document which has already been the subject of intense debate and concern since a copy was leaked last month. Here's a brief guide to what it is and why it matters. 

What is a nuclear posture review?

The Nuclear Posture Review is published periodically by the US department of defense, and it sets out the role of nuclear weapons in the country’s military. It is often used to signal a change in nuclear policy: for example, Barack Obama’s 2010 NPR ruled out for the first time a nuclear attack against non-nuclear-weapon states who are in compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

What is in the 2018 NPR?

The main policy change signalled by this review is the move to introduce so-called ‘low yield’ nuclear weapons into the US’ arsenal, in order to combat the perception that its current nuclear weapons are ‘too big to be used’ and thus redundant.

‘Low yield’ nuclear weapons have a strength of up to 20 kilotons. The bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki would today be classed as ‘low yield’ despite the fact that it killed over 70,000 people.

Why does it matter?

This change in policy is designed to make nuclear weapons more ‘usable.’ That means it is much more likely that they could be used in a ‘conventional’ (non-nuclear) conflict. Far from moving towards disarmament, President Trump is creating a situation in which an escalation to nuclear war is a real risk.

CND General Secretary Kate Hudson says:

“Essentially, the lid is being taken off the restraints on both new-build and nuclear weapons use. The most significant element of the review is commitment to a whole new generation of nuclear weapons, with the emphasis on low-yield, often described as ‘usable’.

“It should be pointed out here that the bombs used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki are technically low-yield in today’s parlance, so we are not talking about something small.

“The excuse underpinning this approach is supposedly that there are no real options between conventional weapons and all-out nuclear war, and that there should be more rungs on the ‘escalatory ladder’. Personally I would rather see more rungs on the de-escalatory ladder.”

Drop All Charges Against Arrested Okinawa Anti-Bases Activists - petition

Japanese peace activist Hiroji Yamashiro was detained for five months from October 2016 for leading a group of activists in protest against the relocation of a US Marine Corps Airbase. Last summer he was released on bail but he and other activists now face long sentences. He has accused the Japanese authorities of human rights violations. 

You can read more about Yamashiro's story here. Click here to sign the petition to drop all charges against him and his fellow activists. 

'Living in interesting times': Report from a member

Helen Martins from Kent Area CND attended our 2018 conference 'Living in interesting times' and wrote the following report, which she has kindly allowed us to publish here! 

Shifts in United States foreign policy are coming thick and fast as President Trump begins his second year in office. A conference in January – Living in interesting times: how the world is shaping up under President Trump – was held at SOAS (the School of Oriental and African Studies), organised by London CND and backed by SOAS CND. What an exhilarating day!

Nobu Ono, a Japanese student representing SOAS CND, referenced the Japanese government – at the time of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and Japanese aggression in the Second World War. He widened this out to include all governments, saying that “It is our responsibility as citizens to stop our governments killing people.”

Next came a live link-up with Brian Becker in Washington DC. He is National Coordinator of the US anti-war Answer Coalition and co-host of Sputnik Radio’s Loud and Clear show with CIA analyst turned whistle-blower John Kiriakou. Carol Turner, London Region CND Chair, questioned Becker about a leaked document in the previous 24 hours about the USA’s nuclear weapons review, and its policy “to make nuclear weapons more usable.” Describing Trump as racist, politically reactionary, misogynist and xenophobic, Becker said that the USA’s 2018 military budget was 10 times larger than Russia’s, and that 60% of America’s military forces are based around Japan and North Korea. Why put this giant military machine in one place? He asked whether it was for confrontation, or war, or to threaten war, or for political or economic ends.

Dr Jim Hoare, LRCND chair Carol Turner, Catherine West MP and Costa Rican Ambassador Jose Enrique Barrantes 

Plenary 1 focused on the shape of things to come. Costa Rica Ambassador Jose Enrique Castillo Barrantes said that 2018 commemorates 70 years of his country abolishing its army. Costa Rica has played a vital role in the UN treaty negotiations, but the Ambassador warned that turning the treaty into an actual global ban would be a long-term fight. He called for strategies to counteract media bias; for attention to be paid to education at all levels, including phasing out toys for children that glorify weapons and violence; and to generate a cultural transformation to a consensus and ideology for peace and disarmament.

Jim Hoare is a UK diplomat who established the British Embassy in North Korea. He is also a historian, writer and broadcaster, who has lived in North and South Korea, Japan and China, singling out North Korea as the most militaristic government of all governments. Despite much posturing, his feeling was that Trump and his hawkish advisers may use diplomacy and not strike North Korea, partly because of massive disruption to international trade and because unless that country is actually wiped out, Trump’s so-called problem is not solved. North Korea is exceedingly difficult to target: it has underground airfields, weapons and ammunition, and the ability to move its war machine around underground easily and invisibly. In addition, if he made a strike, Trump would also hit an estimated 20,000 American service personnel based in South Korea, their families and associated support staff.

Catherine West, Labour MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, wants to see cross-party censure against Trump, who is seemingly not being reined in by his advisers. She expressed particular concern over the leaked nuclear weapons review, in which the USA plans to expand the circumstances in which it would use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear state.

Panel discussion points concluded that Trump can’t be trusted to act with the degree of restraint we would expect from a US president, and that he is “living in the superficial now” without any historical perspective.

Sami Ramadani from the Iraqi Democrats, LRCND's Tom Cuthbert, and Kim Sharif, director of Human Rights for Yemen

Plenary 2 focused on facing the challenges. Sami Ramadani, a political refugee from Saddam Hussein’s regime and founder member of Iraqi Democrats, described the USA’s closest allies in the Middle East as Israel and Saudi Arabia. He argued that the genocide against Yemen is only possible because of the UK and USA’s complicity by supplying arms. He also said that Trump’s advisers give the appearance of being rational, but are actually hawkish in relation to foreign policy.

Kim Sharif, lawyer, Director of Human Rights for Yemen, and a campaigner against Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen gave an explosive presentation that left the audience reeling with admiration, outrage and emotion. She described the illegal war against Yemen, and the indiscriminate use of chemical and uranium-enriched cluster bombs, all being sold by the UK and USA. The USA is also providing mid-air refuelling as well as training and technical support. The Saudi-led coalition likes to target markets, weddings and funerals because they like to kill women and children. There is also an illegal blockade, grave breaches of human rights, hunger used as a weapon of war, bombing and destruction of infrastructure, birth defects, unbelievable injuries, a media blackout, increasing cases of cholera and diphtheria, as well as mercenaries trained and armed by the Saudi-led coalition. Sharif asks activists to let the UK government know that its complicity is not being done in our name, and that we don’t want our country to make a living out of the blood of women and children.

Stop the War's Murad Qureshi, Green MEP Molly Scott-Cato, LRCND's Hannah Kemp-Welch, and Bruce Kent

Plenary 3 focused on action for change. Molly Scott Cato, Green Party MEP for South West England, argued that the UK and USA continue to break the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty so how can we be surprised or outraged that other countries do so too, or want to develop nuclear weapons. She cited a study in Devonport dockyard that she had commissioned to show how jobs in the nuclear industry could be redeployed into the renewable energy industry – a job diversification transformation “from Devonport to Green Port.” Because the defence industry is often hidden, Cato would like to see CND and like-minded groups mapping the nuclear industry in their areas and devising a job diversification plan for alternative employment opportunities. She called for the abolition of NATO, as a relic of the cold war.

Bruce Kent, CND vice president, reminded everyone that Britain does not have an independent nuclear weapons system and argued that it would be a very strange ‘independent’ motor car if we had to borrow four wheels from our neighbour every time we wanted to use our car. He suggested writing to the American peace organisations listed over seven pages in Housmans Peace Diary to ask what they are doing to encourage the US government to sign the UN treaty. He concluded “Why waste millions on international suicide?”

Murad Qureshi, Chair of Stop the War Coalition, called for investment in renewable energy, which would lead to good job security, and also identified the need to persuade the unions that job diversification is an opportunity rather than a threat.

Panel discussion points agreed on the need to redefine the word ‘deterrent’ because people – consciously or unconsciously – actually believe that nuclear weapons keep us safe.

London CND conference 2018: 'Living in interesting times'

Bruce Kent

This weekend London CND held our 2018 conference on the theme 'Living in interesting times: how the world's shaping up under President Trump.' 

We began the day with a live skype call from Washington with Brian Becker, national co-ordinator for the ANSWER coalition, who spoke about worrying developments in President Trump's nuclear policy. 

Our first plenary took the theme of 'the shape of things to come', and we heard from Costa Rican Ambassador Jose Enrique Castillo Barrantes, Catherine West, Labour MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, and Jim Hoare, first British representative to North Korea. Our speakers discussed the seismic changes to the global order which are beginning to emerge.

The second plenary, on 'facing the challenges', featured two excellent speakers, Sami Ramadani from the Iraqi Democrats and Kim Sharif from Human Rights for Yemen, who spoke with passion about the situation in the Middle East and how we should be responding. 

We ended the day with a rousing session on 'action for change' in which our speakers Bruce Kent, Green MEP Molly Scott-Cato and Stop the War Coalition chair Murad Qureshi gave their suggestions for practical actions that individuals, campaigning groups and politicians can take to move towards a nuclear-free world. 

As well as thoughtful and inspiring ideas from our guest speakers, we also had some wonderful comments and contributions from the audience, and we'd like to say a big thank-you to all who attended and made the day such a success!

More information: 

You can find more photos from the day here. 

London CND chair Carol Turner's conference paper

Conference Programme

Speaker information