Bethan and Ellie from the Youth & Students section of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament explain the dangers posed by AUKUS, the new military pact between the UK, the US and Australia.
AUKUS is...
a new military pact between the United Kingdom, the United States & Australia
a dangerous escalation against China
providing Australia with nuclear-powered submarines & weapons-grade uranium
#NoToAukus #NoNuclearProliferation #NoNewColdWar
Video edited by London CND.
‘If you make protests impossible to perform legally, criminalise non-violent direct action, abolish or restrict the ability of citizens to challenge the Government in court through judicial reviews, turn people against lawyers, gerrymander the election boundaries and dish out cash in the way that looks best for Conservative MPs – that is deep, dark politics.’ That’s how London CND Vice President and Green Party Baroness Jenny Jones summed up the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which is currently being debated in the House of Lords. Read Jenny’s report and listen to her speech here
On Wednesday 1st December 2021, CND, Trident Ploughshares and London CND delivered a letter to the German Ambassador in London. Marc Morgan, who called and organised the hand-out, reports:
The idea for this initiative came initially from Pastor Matthias-W Engelke, of the German branch of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation. He and fellow-activists had been holding vigils and protests in Germany to call for accession to the TPNW to be part of the coalition negotiation between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. Matthias encouraged us to hold parallel vigils with the same message in the UK.
In the event it did not prove possible to stage an event before the conclusion of the coalition negotiations, instead we focused our action and our protest on the outcome of those negotiations. We don’t presume an upfront protest by us would have changed that outcome, but given that the large concessions and retrograde steps taken by the negotiating parties in the final agreement, it was very important to register our disapproval.
The Greens had made unambiguous, and the SDP ambiguous, commitments to work towards removing nukes from German soil, and negotiating with TPNW member states with a long-term view to accession. These promises enjoy the overwhelming support of the German people. All that was left of this by the end of the negotiations was a commitment to participate in the March TPNW member state meeting with observer status, wrapped up in hollow phrases of support for the long-term goal of a nuclear-free Europe and world. We have written a polite but strongly worded letter to the German Ambassador in the UK, deploring this state of affairs.
The London CND worker Julie Saumagne and I were greeted at the Embassy by Tim Rauschan, of the Embassy’s foreign policy staff. Tim was friendly and pleasant-mannered – as might be expected from a diplomat- and indicated that the Embassy were always pleased to hear from civil society in the UK, particularly when its members showed an interest in German politics. He politely rebutted our suggestion that the coalition agreement was a travesty of democracy, since it flouted the wishes of a very large majority of German citizens; he insisted democracy was representative, so it was the role of elected parties to “interpret” and if necessary go against popular feeling. Needless to say we hotly disputed this. To the question whether he believed that Germany would be consulted in the event of America considering using its nukes in a conflict with Russia (or others), Tim diplomatically stated it would “depend on the circumstances”.
We left the embassy after half an hour, with a promise our letter would be delivered to the Ambassador, and that he would give it his full consideration. Let’s see how he responds…
Outside the embassy we rejoined David Polden, who had been unable to attend the meeting with us owing to COVID-related restrictions. Instead David had given out about 20 of the flyers we had prepared, explaining our message to German citizens coming to use Embassy services.
This small action was a drop in the ocean of course, but it is an example of much needed international cooperation on these issues. Matthias Engelke, and Marion Kuepker of the “Buchel is everywhere, Atomfrei Jetzt” campaign have taken heart from our initiative and given it their wholehearted support. Details of it have also been relayed to correspondents in France.
You can read the letter below:
Denis Fernando from the Greener Jobs Alliance came to our Open Meeting to tell us about green transitions and nuclear weapons. It was very informative and thought-provoking! You can catch up on his intervention below:
London CND joined the global day of action for Climate Justice called by the COP26 Coalition. We assembled at the Bank of England by the CND stall and marched to Trafalgar Square. Blocs included: Reparations, Trade Union and Worker, Health Justice, Feminist and LGBTQ+, Biodiversity, Global Solidarity (including CND, Stop the War Coalition and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign), Faith and Eco-socialist.
Julie, the London CND worker, brought a very visual placard explaining the disastrous link between Climate Change and nuclear weapons.
Need some #MondayMotivation?🔥
— COP26 Coalition (@COP26_Coalition) November 8, 2021
✊ On Saturday, over 100,000 people from across the climate justice movement took to the streets of Glasgow to say the era of injustice is over.
🌎 They were joined by 300 actions worldwide, with 100 demonstrations in the UK.#COP26GDA pic.twitter.com/o4jac1GmG1
We've released a collection of 70 vintage / lefty / fun postcards!
Themes include: feminism, Christmas, trade unions, Labour, socialism, humour, quotes, dogs… Only £1 each.
We’re happy to offer postcards for free to campaigns and groups that would like to sell them (we’ll just ask you to pay for the delivery fee). If that’s you , please get in touch at info@londoncnd.org
Get yours now at:
This was a virtual event on September 21st and was kindly facilitated by Julia Saumagne of London Region CND.
The evening began with music from Nick Jeffries and the Gillies [ Susan Turner and Mark Evans ] followed by Hanifa Smith who spoke about the Woodcraft Folk and their involvement in human rights and peace issues. She showed film excerpts to illustrate this.
There was also music from Paul Steele and Curtis Savage , and poems from Richard Hart, Patricia Mc Kinnon - Lower, Roisin Robertson, Leon and Ben Silver and Ann Garrett .
Kirsten Bayes - Senior Outreach Worker for CAAT spoke about the immoral Arms Fair and the Uk’s profits from selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, as a result of which millions have died , especially in the Yemen.
David Leal showed part of a film of the work of the Peace One Day organisation, who campaigned to get the UN to pass a resolution to make September 21st each year a global day of peace and non violence. Their work has a great influence in countries throughout the world . especially with young people and in third world communities . They have recently been focussing on human rights situations resulting from climate change.
We were grateful to David Leal, Mike Coulston and other technicians for their competences throughout the evening and to all those who attended and participated, sharing their talents and messages in working to make changes in an increasingly challenging world .
Gini Bevan and Ann Garrett [ chair and member of the SE London Peace , Justice and Solidarity Network ].
NUCLEAR SUBMARINES FOR AUSTRALIA
By David Polden, first published in Kick Nuclear September/October 2021
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On September 15th, a trilateral security pact was announced between Australia, the UK and the US by Boris Johnson, Joe Biden and Scott Morrison, Australian PM. The pact is named “Aukus” for obvious reasons.
Under the pact, the US and the UK agree to help Australia to develop and deploy nuclear-powered submarines, adding to the Western military presence in the Pacific region.
Alongside the construction of the submarines, Aukus will also cover sharing artificial intelligence and cyber and quantum technologies.
When the submarines are built it will make Australia the seventh country in the world to have nuclear-powered submarines.
A joint statement by the three leaders said the deal will “sustain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region”.
In contrast, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the three countries were “severely damaging regional peace and stability, intensifying an arms race, and damaging international nuclear non-proliferation efforts”.
In an article in the Chinese Global Times, seen as a Communist party mouthpiece, there was even a warning that Aukus could make Australia the target of a nuclear strike by China.
At a subsequent press conference Scott Morrison did not confirm whether Australia would purchase British-built BAE Systems Astute class submarines or the Virginia class vessels constructed in the US.
The pact comes as Beijing has been rapidly expanding its military, surface fleet and aircraft. UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that the country now has “one of the largest armed forces on the planet”.
Though the subs will be nuclear-powered, they are said not planned to be nuclear-armed, but carry “conventional” Cruise missiles. This is a dangerous enough ingredient in the new cold war in the Pacific between the US and China, which will ratchet-up the arms race between the two, which might well be in terms of nuclear as well as conventional arms.
Another aspects of the pact are that it draws the UK and Australia deeper into the stand-off between the US and China in the Pacific.
So is this what the government means by “Global Britain”, one that involves itself as junior partner to the US even in conflicts in far-off parts the world? It certainly doesn’t seem to mean being interested in humanitarian involvement in the world as a recent slashing of international aid from 0.7% to 0.5% of gross national product shows.
In a statement the International Physicians for the prevention of Nuclear War stated:
“Australia’s submarines are very likely to be fuelled, as US and UK submarines are, by highly enriched uranium (HEU), which is directly usable in nuclear weapons. The US and UK have resisted and delayed efforts to convert their naval reactors to much less proliferation-prone low-enriched uranium fuel, as France and China have done.
“The proposed Australian submarines could well encourage other states, such as South Korea, Japan and Iran to pursue a similar path. Some within Australia, including within government, have used the recent announcement to call for Australia to embrace nuclear power, and, alarmingly, there are calls for Australia to be prepared to acquire its own nuclear weapons. Submarine reactors fuelled with HEU would provide raw material with which to achieve this goal.
“[Also] adding to proliferation risks is the UK announcement in March of a planned 40% increase in its nuclear arsenal, which is in breach of its nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) obligations. The UK and US are modernising their nuclear arsenals, also in breach of their NPT commitment to disarm.
“There is additional risk of accidents and terrorist attack. Such disasters while a nuclear-powered vessel is in port risks harmful radioactive contamination of cities. Many cities around the world oppose visits of such vessels to their harbours for that reason. A total of eight nuclear-powered submarines have sunk because of accidents at sea between 1963 and 2003, contributing to the radioactive pollution of our oceans.
“The high level radioactive waste from reactors poses a further long-term problem for which there is thus far no solution. Already, Australia’s problem of managing its much smaller amount of intermediate level radioactive waste is not resolved.
“All three nations involved in this deal should turn their attention from arming the world to supporting global efforts for a nuclear-weapons free world. The most important step they - and other nations that have not done so - could take to hasten this goal would be to join the 2017 UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.” (Report much edited.)
By Carol Turner
- First appearing on Labour Hub -
The withdrawal from Afghanistan is a strategic defeat for the US and UK. Sadly, they won’t be throwing the towel in just yet – as Johnson’s Integrated Review and the recent tripartite US, UK and Australia security agreement make clear.
From the Israeli bombing of civilians in Gaza, to the Saudi-led war in Yemen, UK arms traders are supplying the weapons used to commit war crimes, human rights abuses and enable disastrous military interventions like Afghanistan.
They are able to do so by export licenses granted by the British government. On paper the UK has some of the most stringent controls in the world on arms exports. In practice Government ministers ignore the law in order to support bombing.
Among the criteria used to determine if an export license is granted should be whether or not those arms might be used deliberately or recklessly to target civilians. Judge for yourself if you think this is upheld.
End the weapons trade! Stop the war crimes! takes place on Monday 20th September, just a few days after DSEI closes, the world’s largest arms fair at the Excel Centre, East London, and in the week when the UN marks International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26th September.
Join Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP and John McGrath from Democratic Socialists of America to discuss the issues raised, with Murad Qureshi from Stop the War, Louise Regan from Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Carol Turner from CND. All welcome at this timely zoom meeting organised by Lambeth CND and Lambeth Stop the War, and supported by Lambeth & Wandsworth PSC and the UK Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America.
Register in advance here and make your views known.
Catherine West MP, former member of the Select Committee on Arms Export Controls, has made a 2- minute info video for London CND. Watch it here
Bromley Peace Council lays a wreath in memory of the victims of wars in front of the Excel Centre, while inside, the DSEI Arms Fair continues.
This is where war begin.
This is where we can stop it.
#StopTheArmsFair
