#KillTheBill posters

As the country unlocks, a national day of action has been called to protest against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Here is a document with posters to print and either bring to the demonstration or stick on your windows.

Just click on whichever poster you like to download and print it.

By Glen Cutwerk

Made for Sisters Uncut

Made for Sisters Uncut

Made for Sisters Uncut

Made for Sisters Uncut

More info on the protest at: https://www.facebook.com/events/499872144517037

A letter to religious leaders

With the help of Bruce Kent and Christian CND, we have written a letter calling religious leaders to participate in the London Nuclear Ban Communities initiative. We hope it will help you collect pledge signatures from religious individuals in your locality.

We’ve added it to the Toolkit among other letters to London Borough Councils, Majority Groups, Councillors, local organisations and local Labour Parties. You can find the Toolkit below:

The letter

Dear [NAME ]

[I / We] write to seek your support for the London Nuclear Ban Communities initiative, which encourages London to join the growing ranks of cities pledging their support for a global ban on nuclear weapons internationally.

The London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is part of a peace campaign taking place across Britain to persuade the UK government to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) which passed into international law on 22 January 2021.

Nuclear weapons are capable of murdering millions of innocent people by the press of a button. There is no faith on earth which would support such a position, and the leaders and members of all the major faiths have opposed nuclear weapons since their invention. People of faith have hope for a better world where we can be rid of this threat.

[I / We] enclose:

·        an appeal for support from Emma Dent-Coad, who is leading the campaign in London,

·        The London Nuclear Ban Communities Pledge, which can also be signed directly on our website: https://www.londoncnd.org/sign-the-pledge
   

[I /We] would be pleased to discuss this initiative further with you and/or let you have more information about the Treaty and the campaign. Please get in touch [contact details]

Yours in peace,

Links

-        For Christian leaders, link Christian CND’s page on the Biblical case against nuclear weapons https://christiancnd.org.uk/the-biblical-case-against-nuclear-weapons/

-        For leaders of other faiths, link Religions for Peace (https://www.rfp.org/)

No to a new nuclear arms race

The UK government has announced it will increase the number of nuclear warheads in its arsenal for the first time since the Cold War. It will also stop publishing figures on the size of its nuclear stockpile.

Increasing our nuclear stockpile does nothing to protect Britain from the real threats we confront, and flies in the face of growing public support for nuclear disarmament. London CND believes this change of direction will make this country and the world less safe by triggering a new nuclear arms race.

We will be bringing you more in the months ahead, meanwhile CND already has a number of activities planned. Check them out here.

Feel free to dowload and share the placards below on social media.

London CND priorities for 2021

The London CND Annual General Meeting took place on Monday 22 March 2021. These two motions were adopted on this occasion, setting the priorities for London CND this year:

London CND priorities for 2021

1. London Regional CND’s 2021 Annual General Meeting acknowledges the difficulties of campaigning within the constraints imposed by the pandemic and recognises that some restrictions are likely to continue in the year ahead.

2. We welcome the steps taken by London CND to adjust to this new environment, improve our use of digital platforms, and develop new campaigning tools and methods.

3. Within this context, our campaigning priorities for 2021 shall be:

   a. Using all opportunities to call for the scrapping of Trident,

   b. Developing the London Nuclear Ban initiative to help generate pressure for the UK government to sign and ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and

   c. Continuing to oppose UK participation in foreign military adventures.

4. We will maximise our campaigning resources, including by:

   d. Holding public events and activities on zoom,

   e. Continuing to develop effective and professional social media,

   f. Joining forces with others to get our message across, and

   g. Working with Y&S CND to encourage a new generation of activists.

Emergency Motion: Integrated Review

1. London Regional CND Annual General Meeting is outraged at the government’s announcement of a 40% increase in the stockpile of UK nuclear warheads, announced as part of the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published on 16 March 2021.

2. We are mindful that:

   a. Britain already has an arsenal of around 200 nuclear warheads, each of which is eight times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb;

   b. the increase in the stockpile runs counter to the UK’s international legal obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which requires Britain to takes steps to disarm our nuclear arsenal, and

   c. comes at the same time that the United States and Russian Federation have renewed their commitment to bilateral nuclear reductions with the Treaty for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, known as the New START Treaty.

3. This AGM believes:

   d. this increase in the UK’s nuclear stockpile will do nothing to protect Britain from the actual threats we face,

   e. flies in the face of growing public support for the global abolition of nuclear weapons, and

   f. is likely to make this country and the world less safe by triggering a new nuclear arms race.

4. We therefore instruct London CND Committee to do all in its power to draw attention to the many consequences of an increase in the UK’s nuclear stockpile and take all opportunities available to campaign against it.

London CND Annual Report

What a year!

Following our AGM on March 22nd, we are happy to present this gallery of all the events we organised this year. Despite the pandemic, we moved online and developped collaborations with multiple other campaigns.

New Year dinner, Waterloo

Together? As a group? In a restaurant? This is how London CND’s new year of campaigning started - once upon a time.

London CND’s 2020 Annual Conference

A great start to the year at SOAS

London CND’s 2020 Annual Conference

London CND shifts into digital campaigning

The full series is available here.

Virtual Hiroshima Day Commemoration, joined by Jeremy Corbyn

CND National Conference hosted by London CND

London CND was in charge of organising the CND National Conference on the theme of Security and the pandemic.

Youth & Student CND event #1

London CND collaborated with Youth & Student CND to organise this punchy event. Catch up here.

Youth & Student CND event #2

This time, London CND and Youth & Student CND were joined by East Midlands CND. The result of this fruitful collaboration is available here.

London CND Annual Conference

We entered 2021 with our Annual Conference entitled ‘What Now? Nuclear Policy Under Biden’.

Launching the London Nuclear Ban Communities initiative

We launched an exciting initiative which aims to make London a Nuclear Ban Community alongside other cities such as Paris and Washington DC. Learn more here.

News from CND Sydenham & Forest Hill

We are a combination of Greenwich and Lewisham CND, Bromley and Forest Hill and Sydenham CND Plus the local Stop The War and other members with similar views. Gini Bevan, David Leal and Anne Garrett are the coordinators and we are called Southeast London Network for Peace, Justice and Solidarity. Stop the War locally work closely with us.

We hold regular zoom meetings, organise events together, and work with other organisations .We are always interested in welcoming new members or linking up with other organisations . We have a broad network of artists such as Bromley Peace Poets ,Jolly Jammers and some musicians from Blackheath Folk Club .

We are currently looking at setting up a Peace drama/Arts local group to work on highlighting peace/nuclear issues through theatre, local filming, music, poetry etc both to entertain and to inform .We are hoping to hold a Zoom at some stage soon and then to hopefully all meet together outside when we are allowed ,with a possible performance, half day in late September if possible .We are keen to hear from any filmmakers, budding playwrights ,etc who would be interested in joining us. Ideas are very welcome

London CND is working on London being a Nuclear ban Community. to join an increasing number of cities such as Edinburgh, New York ,Paris ,Oxford, Manchester Leicester , Washington and many others There are 16 councils in the UK who have declared the Pledge For Peace including Newham and Tower Hamlets .. Our network are writing to our local MPs , councillors, faith leaders, unions etc to provide information and to encourage them to sign the Pledge for Peace .The Mayor of Lewisham is a Mayor for Peace and we are hoping that Lewisham will adopt the Pledge as a council .

We do appreciate that this is such a difficult time for everyone in the midst of the pandemic which has hit our communities hard .However with the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons coming into force on the 22 nd January Biden opening up the possibility of the Iran Peace Deal land other encouraging developments this is a time for us to take action, in conjunction with opposing the renewal of Trident.

We would be grateful if any members or interested parties could contact their councillors, MPS, faith leaders, trade unions etc and share the information below .It would be great if they could ask anyone to sign the Pledge and forward it to London CND OR contact us with any questions .This is a National campaign although we are focusing on London here. The following letter has been sent to Councillors in the borough.....

Dear Councillor ....

I am writing to you on behalf of the South East London Network for Peace, Justice and Solidarity to ask you, to support the London Community Pledge against nuclear weapons.

Throughout the world, parliamentarians have supported a “Parliamentary Pledge” which says that they will work for signature of the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by their governments. Through the London Community Pledge, we are seeking to persuade London MPs to do this too.

The UN General Assembly has long recognised the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of even a limited nuclear war, and in 2017 it agreed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). This treaty came into force on 22nd January 2021, after 50 states had ratified it. More states continue to sign and ratify the TPNW.

The TPNW makes it illegal under international law to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess, stockpile, transfer, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons. It also makes it illegal to assist or encourage anyone to engage in these activities.

The UK Government refused to participate in the negotiations leading to the TPNW, and has said that it will never ever sign it. We seek to change this.

> See: London Nuclear Ban Communities Toolkit

We will mark Chernobyl Day on April 26th and Hiroshima Day locally on August 7th with vigils and reading poems and speeches. We will mark Nagasaki Day with a vigil and Peace Picnic in the Archbishop Tutu Peace Garden in Chinbrook Meadows , Grove Park on August 9th.

We will join the SE London CND Peace and Justice Coalition for the Peace One Day event on Sept 21st

First London Nuclear Ban Communities organising meeting!

What a success! 33 people responded to Emma Dent Coad and joined the first London Nuclear Ban Communities initiative organising meeting on Zoom. It was great to hear from all the volunteers and what they’ve initiated so far. Several had already started contacting MPs and Councillors and offered us precious advice on how to proceed in the future.

A very energising meeting that fulled us with ideas.

London Nuclear Ban Communities TOOLKIT

London CND is launching the London Nuclear Ban Communities initiative with Emma Dent-Coad. We have developed a toolkit with template letters and motions for you to download, transform and share.

Click on the link below for the .docx (editable version) of the Toolkit, which will be regularly updated.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at info@londoncnd.org if you have any question.

WATCH: Emma Dent Coad on the London Nuclear Communities intiative

Emma Dent Coad will soon launch the London Nuclear Ban Communities initiative. She explains why you should get involved…

WATCH: Gender, Race & Nukes

Check this video exploring the links between gender, race and nuclear disarmament! Organised by London CND in collaboration with East Midlands CND and Youth & Student CND.

Learn why nuclear disarmament is a feminist, anti-racist and anti-imperialist struggle in a snappy video animated by two leading anti-nuclear campaigners from Australia and the US.

Structure: 25 min panel on Gender, Race & Nukes + 25 min ‘devil’s advocate’ game to equip ourselves with anti-nuclear arguments

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Speakers

Karina Lester is a Yankunytjatjara Anangu woman whose community was affected by the British nuclear testing program in South Australia in the 1950s. Her own father, Yami Lester, was permanently blinded by the nuclear fallout of Totem 1 when he was a child. During the negotiations for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, she travelled to New York with a petition from indigenous people across Oceania to promote the inclusion of provisions on assistance to nuclear survivors and environmental remediation. She will also tell us about uranium mining and plans to dump nuclear waste on Aboriginal lands in South Australia.

Ray Acheson is the Director of Reaching Critical Will, the disarmament programme of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She has been involved with intergovernmental disarmament processes since 2005, providing reporting and analysis on nuclear weapons, the international arms trade, armed drones and autonomous weapons. She was involved in developing the strategy and advocacy of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017, in the build up towards the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. ** Devil’s advocate game ** The perfect occasion to learn how to tackle pro-nuclear weapons arguments! Guided by Mélina and Jinsella from Demilitarise Education (dED), we’ve used digital sticky notes to respond to common comments on nuclear weapons in order to solidify our argument. Chilled atmosphere and witty rebuttals!

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3 KEY REASONS WHY bringing a gendered perspective on nuclear weapons is important:

1. You might think nuclear weapons kill all indiscriminately, but research shows that women and girls are twice more likely to develop cancer as a result of exposure to radiation or nuclear fallouts (ICAN, 2020).

2. Despite the disproportionate effects, women are vastly under-represented in decision-making regarding nuclear weapons: almost 1/2 of all country delegations at any international diplomatic meetings on nuclear weapons are likely to be composed * entirely * of men (ICAN, 2020).

3. And of course, the discourse around nuclear weapons is highly gendered. Being ready to use nuclear weapons ​is seen as​ masculine and strong, while wanting to disarm is often described as feminine and weak...

3 FACTS ABOUT RACE AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS

1. The question of race underpins the entire chain of nuclear weapons: from uranium mining, to nuclear research, testing and waste disposal.

2. From 1946, around 315 nuclear tests were carried out in the Pacific by the US, Britain and France. These nations’ largest ever nuclear tests took place on colonised lands and oceans, from Australia to the Marshall Islands, Kiribati to French Polynesia. This is referred to as ‘Nuclear Colonialism’

3. The total number of global cancer deaths as a result of atmospheric nuclear test explosions has been estimated at between 2 million and 2.4 million, the majority of which indigenous locals, even though these studies used radiation risk estimates that are now dated and likely underestimated the risk. (Swinburn University, 2020)