[VIRAL VIDEO] Stop the War in Ukraine protest

London CND mobilised for and joined the protest organised by Stop the War and CND to mark 1 year since the invasion of Ukraine. Standing against further military escalation and calling for peace talks now, this protest was echoed in many other cities in Europe.

Our video of the march went viral on Twitter, with 750k+ views at the time of posting.

Fantastic turnout at the #PeaceNow protest in London today calling to #StopTheWar in #Ukraine

Escalation is not the solution.
Peace talks now. pic.twitter.com/iWjJC2alfh

— London CND (@LondonRegionCND) February 25, 2023

Several London Region CND groups attended the protest, including some with stunning banners.

Our friends from the Battersea Peace Pagoda

London CND co-chair Hannah holds a placard saying ‘Escalation is not the solution’ on Trafalgar Square.

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The march assembled on Trafalgar Square for a rally with speakers including London CND’s vice-president Emma Dent Coad.

London CND was also instrumental in platforming musician Beans on Toast with his new protest song: Against the War. The full song is available on Youtube.

Following the protest, we produced a punchy TikTok video building on John F. Kennedy’s 1963 peace speech. More on this in Carol Turner’s blog.

Ukraine: Voices for peace are raised across Europe

On the eve of Saturday’s Peace Talks Now demonstration in London, some readers may have watched the Ukraine war anniversary addition of the BBC’s Newsnight. One year on, a live audience of Ukrainian refugees gave their views and expressed their feelings about the war raging in their country. Who could fail but be moved by their concerns for the fate of their families and friends, the descriptions of what happened to their towns and neighbourhoods, and their hopes and fears for the future?

What struck me most of all, sending a chill down my spine, were the unreal expectations they expressed about the war’s likely end game. One woman’s desire for the war to continue until Putin was crushed and the Crimea and Donbass brought within Ukraine’s borders caused even Mark Urban to raise an eyebrow. The BBC’s Diplomatic Editor, no friend of Russia, felt obliged to highlight ‘the limits of western will’. Recently, he said, ‘it is explicit from the US, Germany, and France that they do not support the reconquest of Crimea.’

The responsibility for such expectations should be laid squarely at the door of the US and UK governments and their media allies whose war fever has encouraged Ukrainians to believe that outright victory and total defeat of Russia is not just possible but likely.

“Calls for escalation point the way to war in Europe and beyond”

In the run up to the 12-month anniversary, President Biden and Prime Minister Sunak have called loud and often for escalating the war in Ukraine. Most noticeably though, they have failed to match their war mongering words with concrete commitments to supply the tanks and aircraft President Zelenskiy is  seeking. Biden and Sunak recognise as we do that escalation is the road to war in Europe and beyond, with the possibility of nuclear war.

 The actual commitment Biden has made amounts to speeding up the provision of ammunition and imposing further sanctions. Sunak has pledged merely to ‘give serious consideration’ to Zelenskiy’s request for fighter aircraft. Even if aircraft were forthcoming, Sunak points out, it would take months, even years, before they were delivered and the Ukraine military trained to use them.

Behind the beat of western war drums a picture of US strategy begins to emerge – that of embroiling Russia in a long and protracted war which drains the country’s military, economic, and political resources; hoping a weakened Putin will be thrown to the wolves by the Russian people to be replaced by a more malleable leader. Needless to say, such a strategy takes little if any account of the war’s impact on the Ukrainian people. Nor does it acknowledge the possibility that, in extremis, nuclear. weapons might be used.

“Nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war”

— John F. Kennedy

Compare the rhetoric of Biden and Sunak, with a speech by President John F Kennedy in 1963, a year on from the Bay of Pigs and just weeks before his assassination. ‘Above all,’ Kennedy said, ‘nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. To adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policy—or of a collective death-wish for the world.’

Disregard for the fate of the peoples and countries in whose name the US and its allies claim to act can be seen in a long line of recent wars – in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, in Afghanistan in 2001, in Iraq in 1991 as well as 2003, in Syria, and in Libya. All of them have left a trail of death and destruction from which each still suffers. This is the real lesson of 21st century wars.

The outcome of a prolonged war in Ukraine is not self-determination, as a few voices in the UK peace movement misguidedly imagine when they support Biden and Sunak’s calls to step up the war. The only way forward is peace talks.

“Backing the calls to step up the war, however unintentional, provide a progressive gloss for warmongering and profiteering”

In backing escalation, however unintentional, these tragically mistaken voices provide a progressive gloss for warmongering and profiteering. The same voices would never be raised in support of the Tories austerity agenda. Why would anyone imagine Johnson, Truss and Sunak have changed their spots when it comes to Ukraine?

On Saturday 25 February 2023, led by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Stop the War Coalition, the peace movement took to the streets of London to mark the first anniversary, demanding End War in Ukraine! Peace Talks Now! The same demands to stop the war and build the peace are ringing out across Europe – in Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Croatia, Portugal, Austria, France, Brussels, Poland, the Netherland, and beyond.

CND is part of a growing movement across Europe. Every single one of us who marched on Saturday can be proud that our voices were raised for sanity, for the future of Ukraine, and for the future of the human race. When history is written, and the miasma of rhetoric and lies forgotten, our stand will be a small footnote on history’s pages. That is something we should all be justly proud of.

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Carol Turner is co-chair of London Region CND. She is a directly elected member of CND’s National Council and part of the International Advisory Group.

Carol is a long-time peace campaigner, a member of Stop the War Coalition’s National Officer Group, and author of Corbyn and Trident: Labour’s Continuing Controversy.

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London CND in 2023: report from our AGM

London CND is entering 2023 with force and determination!

Starting with a very well-attended online conference, we met in person for our New Year social and followed with an online Annual General Meeting to decide on key campaigns for this year.

New Year Social

After a few years of unfortunate events meddling with our plans, we were happy to bring our New Year social back! We returned to the Ev Restaurant just next to Southwark Station.

It was a lovely evening of catch ups with friends, with a raffle and delicious Anatolian mezze food shared with Jeremy Corbyn MP and our Vice-President Emma Dent-Coad.

A new Vice-President was annouced: Murad Qureshi, who gave an interesting speech on CND’s campaigning prospects in 2023.

Annual General Meeting

London CND Coordinator Julie Saumagne presented her report on 2022 activities:

With the war in Ukraine and the return of US nukes in Britain, promoting our message of Peace has been at the forefront of our activities. But cutting through the thick layer of warmongering covering the media and public attention was, and remains, a major challenge. So we got creative.

First, we made our voice heard twice at RAF Lakenheath, bringing two coaches full of protestors. We painted original banners and staged a theatrical intervention that got shared in the media and online.

Second, I’m particularly proud of our new partnership with the V&A. We first organised a visit of their poster archive with the artist Peter Kennard. We then organised a second event as part of the Hiroshima commemorations which focused on the cultural impact of the two nuclear bombings through the lens of Giant Monster movies. These two events were part of our wider efforts to generate new ways of engaging with the youth.

Finally, another approach we took was to support CND in launching a TikTok page - you have probably heard of this new social media platform, it is most used by Gen Z and supports political messages quite well. We started experimenting with more humorous videos and are hoping to do more this year.

2022 has seen an acceleration of existing tensions, and we have done all we could to face them with determination and inventiveness in calling for nuclear disarmament everywhere.

As closing words, I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that I’m always pleased to receive feedback and listen to any new ideas you might have. So feel free to email or call me if you’d like, I am available every Tuesday.

Three motions were voted upon and accepted. One covered London CND’s commitment to the pursuit of deescalation and peace in Ukraine. Our priorities for 2023 were outlined in a second motion, and Murad Qureshi was appointed as a Vice President of London CND.

Murad Qureshi, appointed new London CND Vice-President

Murad Qureshi, whose family hails from Bangladesh, was born in Greater Manchester and brought up in Westminster. At university he specialised in environmental economy and maintains a keen interest in South Asia, in particular the potential for nuclear conflict between Pakistan and India. Murad was a member of the London Assembly from 2004-16, and again in 2020-21. He is a member of CND National Council and a former chair of Stop the War Coalition, and an avid football fan.