A message from Kate Hudson

Dear CND Supporter,

I am writing to convey my sincere thanks for all of your support and hard work for the No Trident Replacement campaign over the past months. The vote in parliament on Wednesday was a significant step forward for our work. Although the government position was won, it was the largest rebellion on a domestic issue since Labour came to power in 1997. It is also the largest backbench revolt over defence policy since Labour first entered government in 1924.

Many MPs have shifted their positions to oppose nuclear weapons and more will do so in the months and years to come, as they realise the extent of the majority public opposition to new nuclear weapons. All the arguments are in our favour and more and more people are realising that. This is a key step in the process of winning the struggle for nuclear abolition. The tables are turning in our favour and sanity will ultimately prevail.

CND will continue to campaign tirelessly against Trident replacement and for initiatives which will eliminate nuclear weapons from Britain and the entire world. Your continued support is vital to encourage our government to adopt policies of peace and true security.

Sincerely,
Kate Hudson
CND Chair

PS – We have several videos from last Wednesday’s rally and other actions in Parliament Square. Please visit our You Tube site at http://youtube.com/CNDpress to see all of our latest videos.

Scotland rejects Trident

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Last night a majority of Scottish MPs voted to oppose the updating of Britain’s nuclear weapons. This was a rebellion of 15 Labour MP, all six SNP MPs, and twelve Scottish Lib Dems.

This is important as the elected representatives of the Scottish nation have rejected the genocidal “defence” policy of the British state. I hope that Scottish MSPs will urgently raise the issue in the Scottish parliament in Hollyrood, because even though defence matters are dealt with in Westminster, the constitutional position here is that English MPs have imposed nuclear weapons on Scotland, and even expect them to be based in Scotland at Faslane.

In May this year the Scots will go to the polls in what is fast becoming an independence election. Yesterday I posted a short article explaining how independence will economically benefit the working class in Scotland.

The bigger vote the Independence parties get, the worse the constitutional crisis for the British state. This Trident vote shows the potential for that crisis developing in a progressive direction, as an independent Scotland immediately raises the question of opting out of the imperial obligations of the blood soaked British state.

(by the way, I usually dislike the cheapening of the term genocide by overuse, but nuclear bombs are a weapon of genoicide, designed to wipe out whole populations)

Trident debate

I attended the rally at Parliament Square tonight for a couple of hours. Heard various speakers which included John McDonnell, Michael Meacher (who mentioned the Iraq war... remind us how you voted again, Michael..), Kate Hudson (CND), Keith Sonnet (Unison), Barry Camfield (T&G) and Lindsay German.

There were a couple of hundred people at the rally and it was good natured. The vote went: 409 MPs voted for Trident with 161 against. Majority of 248.

David - so cute about the bomb

David Cameron’s decision to impose a three line whip on Wednesday’s Trident vote is a piece of political cunning worthy of Niccolò Machiavelli himself.

This will cause almost no damage to the Tories electoral interests, as everyone expects them to be right wing on defence issues. And it doesn't detract much from the generally succesful repositioning of the Tories, which we shouldn't forget is to the left of Labour on many issues.

But given the expected size of the Labour rebellion, it means that Tony Blair will only win with Tory votes. And Gordon Brown is as compromised as Blair on this issue. Cameron's help on is a political disaster for Labour, much worse than a common's defeat would be.

I just finished a phone call with my mum, who has voted Labour in every election since 1945, and she told me that for the first time she has decided never to vote Labour again – the final straw being Trident. Like so many of Labour’s increasingly elderly vote she had been voting for the historical tradition not the current reality. In her mind she was voting for Attlee and Wilson, not Blair, and each vote represented the triumph of hope over experience.

By saving Blair’s bacon on Wednesday, Cameron is sending a very clever signal to many Labour voters that Brown and Blair represent a decisive break with the historical progressive traditions of the Labour Party.

Of course Labour governments have supported the bomb before, but the argument has moved on. Not only has the context made nuclear weapons less defensible, but the loyalty of the socialist proportion of Labour’s vote has never been stretched so thin. Yet another reason to not turn out for Labour this May.

We need to get used to the idea of a Tory government. Of course the political context for building working class politics is better under a labour government than under the Tories, but in policy terms, could the Tories be much worse than Gordon Brown?

Arguments against Trident replacement

The following is a letter I sent this week to Swindon's two Labour MPs, Michael Wills and Anne Snelgrove. The arguments here had been collectively agreed at our January meeting.



I am writing to you as secretary of Swindon Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and Stop the War Coalition. Our January meeting, that included very many constituents from both North Swindon and South Swindon, asked that I write to you in connection with the forthcoming vote in parliament over a replacement for Trident.

In particular we wish to remind you that in the 1980s Swindon Borough Council (before it became Thamesdown) voted that Swindon would be a nuclear free town after a long public debate, and we wish to know whether you will be following this policy and voting against new nuclear weapons.

Please could you advise us of your response to the following points?

Britain’s authority to campaign against other nations like Iran developing nuclear weapons is undermined if we argue that our state requires them for our own defence. If the UK needs them, how can we say Iran doesn’t need them?

The defence threats that Britain faces in the 21st Century are quite different from the Cold War period when Britain became a nuclear power. Nuclear weapons are completely ineffective for dealing with asymmetrical warfare threats, and divert money and effort away from more credible defence capability.

Other countries, such as the Ukraine, South Africa and Kazakhstan have renounced their nuclear weapons arsenals. Shouldn’t Britain be showing international leadership towards disarmament?

Other major G8 countries, such as Japan, Germany and Italy and Canada have no nuclear weapons, and have no plans to develop them. Why does the UK need weapons that these countries do not need?

The nuclear deterrent is not credible because the destruction that would be unleashed would be so unimaginable that no sane government would use it.

Any use of nuclear weapons against another nuclear power would be suicidal. Any use of nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear power would irrevocably damage Britain’s international standing and economy, and probably provoke terrorist responses that we could not defend against.

While the present government can be trusted not to use nuclear weapons, can we be sure that during the lifetime of these weapons there will never be an irresponsible government? If the far right were to win an election 10 or 15 years from now, would we wish to bequeath them nuclear weapons?

Trident replacement will cost £25 billion, with lifetime costs of £76 billion. This money could better be spent on improving the health service or education.

I look forward to your reply, and hope that we can count on you to vote against these weapons of genocide.


Yours faithfully


Andrew Newman
Secretary Swindon CND and Stop the War Coalition.

STOP PRESS:
CND has called an emergency parliamentary lobby for Wednesday 14 March, as well as an emergency rally in Parliament Square from 6-8 pm on 14 March.
The government has announced that a debate on Trident replacement will take place in the House of Commons on Wednesday 14 March from 12:40 – 7:00 pm, with a vote coming immediately after the debate.
The debate and vote comes even though the government promised there would be a consultation on the issue. The government simply issued its White Paper and has thus far ignored all calls for debate.
What can you do?
1. Come to the emergency lobby in London on the 14th – It is essential you let your MP know that you oppose Trident replacement, and talking to her/him in person is the best way to get your point across. Contact your MP now to schedule an appointment either in London or at the local surgery.
2. Attend the emergency rally in Parliament Square on the 14th of March – Our presence in Parliament Square on the day of the debate and vote is vital to show the government the level of public opposition to Trident replacement. The rally will take place from 6-8 pm, but we also need to have a presence in the Square, with banners and placards, throughout the debate. Click here for a list of other anti-Trident events happening on vote day.
3. Encourage your MP to sign EDM 579 today – EDM 579 calls on the government to extend the period of consultation on Trident to allow all points of view to be heard. To date 142 MPs have signed this Early Day Motion. Click here to read the EDM and see if your MP has signed. If not, contact her/him today! Please let us know what your MP has to say on this issue – email pressoffice@cnduk.org or ring 0207 700 2393.
4. Plan an event in your community – If you can’t make it to London on 14th March for the emergency lobby and rally, please plan an event for that day in your community. Click here for a list of local and regional CND groups which may be able to help in your planning.
5. Write a letter to the newspaper – The letters to the editor page is one of the most widely-read pages of any newspaper. Please take a few minutes to write to the editor of the paper you read (local and/or national) explaining why MPs must reject the government’s plans for Trident replacement. Click here for letter writing tips, which include key facts on Trident replacement.
ALSO – Watch CND Chair Kate Hudson debate Defence Secretary Des Browne TONIGHT at 8pm on More 4. Excerpts from the debate will be shown on Channel 4 News at 7pm.

War: what is it good for...

Thousands of people marched today against war and scrapping that useless but expensive pile of metal called Trident. I marched behind a CND banner there were lots of other banners from the peace movement, Greens, anti-war, trade unions, and shock! horror! even Labour Party ones.

By the middle of the demo I seemed to be marching with singin' and dancin' hippies (one teenager I heard mutter, "I can't stand hippies"!). Hurrying along, I ended up in the spliff and trance section with lots of young hip gunslingers. Unfortunately the spliff didn't end up in my direction (maybe 'cos I looked like someone who remembered the 1980s..). I ended up going off to the pub (cheers, mine is a double vodka) as opposed to going to the rally (sorry... it was an abdication of comradely duty!)....

I am sure there are plenty of committed politicos who are made of sterner stuff than me who did listen to the speakers in Trafalgar Square. Oh and the weather was rainy and muddy indeed.

Scrap Trident

I attended a conference on Trident today organised by Labour Against the War, Labour Action for Peace and Labour CND. There were speakers from the LP to the trade union movement to single issue campaigns though all united in their opposition to Trident. I won't go through the speakers individually as many reiterated the same points instead I will give a broad brushstroke of the afternoon. Trident, is said to cost, £25billion. The truer figure is more like £70billion.

A public debate has been denied on Trident, the launching of the so-called consultation made in haste and now the vote in March. There was no debate at LP conference and no vote is "envisaged" to take place at the PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party) either. Debate is being stifled. Barry Camfield and Keith Sonnet from T&G and Unison spoke about the important role of the trade union movement in the opposition against Trident (though to be honest their speeches especially Sonnet's were muted, luke warm and piss-poor.......).

Kate Hudson (CND) and Jeremy Corbyn spoke about NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) and the double-standards and contradictions. Britain is a signatory to the NPT yet it aint stopping them from replacing Trident. For New Labour it is a case of semantics, Trident is a "deterrent" but in regards to other countries they don't like they are "weapons of mass destruction".

Countries like South Africa post-apartheid has got rid of its nukes and many other countries have done the same. Yet countries like India and Pakistan (who are not NPT signatories) have been ignored and Israel who kinda admits to having nukes but no spotlight is thrown on them. And there's Iran who is only charged with breach of the (voluntary) additional protocol of the NPT yet will probably be suffering air strikes in the next couple of months. But don't despair George Bush has announced that he has "evidence" that Iran is up to no good so another "dodgy dossier" is on its way....


One of the most interesting speakers was Roudabeh Shafie (Campaign Iran). She spoke about the military build up in the Gulf region by the Americans, that there is no evidence that fighters in Iraq have received support from Iran and the weaponry has been bought on the "black" market. But that hasn't stopped imperialist sabre rattling. There won't be the same ground attacks like Iraq but air strikes. Military and weapon installations will be taken out and many of those plants are concentrated near cities. The impact and devastation on human life will be immense and also the destruction to the environment. The irony is that work done to expose human rights abuses in Iran will be lost as people will rally behind the government if they are attacked.

Christine Shawcroft (Labour Against the War and NEC member) asked the question to Des Browne about where was this perceived terrorist threat and he replied that there wasn't one. BUT there may be one in the future!

The biggest threat to Britain and to the whole world is global warming. If the Antarctic ice cap starts to melt seriously sea levels could rise many metres and it could potentially flood cities by the sea. So... £70billion could be wisely spent on combatting global warming such as energy efficiency. Well, with the increase in sea levels the Trident submarine will have more ocean to steam around in...........And of course future generations will have a piece of expensive scrap metal as a deterrent.

The discussion also looked at ways to mobilise our discontent and anger such as the usual writng letters to MPs and passing resolutions at TU and LP meetings. Next week's demo was flagged up as well (so see you all there!) and much was made of what Greenpeace has done over nuclear power and whether there can be a similar legal challenge to the way New Labour has failed to consult properly over Trident.

There were other discussions over the politics of the Cold War, the history of the nuclear industry and other nuclear nasties like plutonium and depleted uranium.

Update: 53 musicians/bands are saying no to Trident replacement (press release from CND)