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Urge your Labour MP to nominate Bell Ribeiro-Addy for Deputy Leader

Labour CND, along with CLPD and Momentum, are calling on party members to urge their Labour MP to nominate Bell Ribeiro-Addy as a candidate for Deputy Leader. You can write to you MP using Momentum’s online email. All you have to do is enter your postcode, name and email address, and it will be forwarded to your MP.

This is urgent as there are only 2 days to do so – Tuesday 9th to Thursday 11th September. She must have 80 nominations from the PLP to get on the ballot.

Labour CND believes it’s crucial that a left wing voice is represented in the Deputy Leader contest. Bell is a principled socialist who’s unafraid to champion real Labour values, from migrants’ rights to wealth taxes. She is asking the party to examine why the Labour government is losing so much support, not to Reform UK – a false claim that’s often made – but to those parties which oppose the politics of Reform UK. If elected, she will be the first black woman Deputy Leader.

The government is spending more on warfare by shifting resources away from welfare and overcoming austerity Britain. This isn’t what Labour MPs were elected for. This agenda is losing Labour support and helping to strengthen the arguments of the far right.

We needs a progressive agenda that benefits benefit the people of Britain. We believe it’s also what the majority of party members want.

Please contact your Labour MPs today and urge them to make sure the Deputy Leadership contest is inclusive of Labour’s broad church.

Nominate Bell Ribeiro-Addy!

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Labour CND Contemporary Motion to Labour Party Conference 2025

With Labour Party Conference just weeks away, Labour CND is asking supporters to put forward our recommended Contemporary Motion, calling for increased accountability and debate on Britain’s nuclear weapons policy.

With the number of nuclear warheads in the UK stockpile no only published and no accountability on the decision to return US nuclear weapons to the UK at RAF Lakenheath, it is vital that these issues receive the scrutiny the public would expect in the House of Commons.

The deadline for submitting the motion is 5pm on Thursday 11 September. If you need any support in making your submission you can contact Labour CND – labourcnd@gmail.com

The text of the motion is:

Accountability and transparency of nuclear weapons policy 

  1. Conference notes 
    a) the 9 August Guardian report that a confidential inspection report by Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) revealed a leak of radioactive material into Loch Long earlier this year, from the Royal Navy armaments depot at Coulport which holds the nuclear warheads for the Trident submarine fleet

    b) inspection reports reveal other radioactive leaks at Coulport in 2010 and 2019

    c) SEPA and MoD sought to prevent journalists accessing these reports, claiming national security until Scottish Information Commissioner David Hamilton said disclosure threatened ‘reputations’ not security, and ruled their release
  1. Conference further notes UK governments have become increasingly resistant to releasing nuclear information not only to journalists but also to both parliament and public, including:

    d) the 2021 Integrated Review decision that nuclear warheads and missile numbers would no longer to be published, coinciding with an increase in the cap on warhead stockpiles in breach of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and

    e) Minsters have not answered MPs questions about sit US nuclear weapons in Britain.
  1. Conference believes:

    f) the SERPA report highlights continued risks to people and environment from nuclear weapons programmes, and 

g) it is completely inappropriate for the government to maintain silence about major escalations in nuclear dangers. 

4 Conference therefore calls on the Prime Minister to hold a parliamentary debate on the major change in Britain’s security arrangements which hosting US nuclear weapons represents.

ENDS

You can download a PDF version of the motion here.

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Events at Labour Party Conference

Labour Party Conference is taking place later this month, and as usual Labour CND will be in Liverpool speaking to party members, MPs and others about our current campaigns. We’ll also be supporting a number of fringe meetings taking place throughout the week.

CND Fringe: Britain’s nuclear expansionism – Who pays the price?

Sunday September 28, 5.30-7pm
Chair: Sophie Bolt, CND General Secretary // Eddie Dempsey, RMT General Secretary // Asad Rehman, Chief Exec, Friends of the Earth // Bell Ribeiro Addy, Labour MP // John Foster, Advisor to the Alternative Defence Review // Dr Louise Arimatsu, Distinguished Policy Fellow, LSE // Jess Barnard, Labour NEC

Albert 3, Hilton Hotel, Liverpool Central. Refreshments will be available

Labour’s drive to raise military spending and deploy new nuclear-capable fighter jets makes the world more dangerous and our populations poorer. It worsens global security, accelerates the climate crisis, and strips funding from health, housing, education, and other essential public services. At this crucial event, we’ll draw on the Alternative Defence and Security Review to present a bold, people-first vision of security — tackling the real threats: poverty, climate breakdown, and inequality. There is a better way. Join us to demand a security policy that addresses the real challenges: poverty, climate crisis, and public health.

Palestine – the Defining Issue of Our Time

Saturday September 27, 4:30pm. In-person central Liverpool event.
Register here for full info / FB here / RT here.

With H.E. Husam Zomlot, Palestinian Ambassador // Richard Burgon MP // Kim Johnson MP // John McDonnell MP // Steve Witherden MP // Hugh Lanning, Labour & Palestine // Jess Barnard, Labour NEC // Mick Whelan, ASLEF General Secretary // Maryam Eslamdoust, TSSA General Secretary.

On the eve of Labour Conference, join us in-person in Liverpool in solidarity with the Palestinian people & discuss the next steps in building our movement. Refreshments provided including tea & coffee.

Open to all. Hosted by Labour & Palestine & part of the ‘Arise – a Festival of Left Ideas’ Solidarity Hub. Free event but solidarity donations here essential to hosting costs. Thanks to the 100s of you who donated to make this event happen.

Party Democracy – The Key to Labour’s Success in Government

Saturday, 27th September, 6.30pm, Quaker Meeting House, 22 School Lane, L1 3BT

Chair: Rachel Garnham Speakers: Richard Burgon MP // Bell Ribeiro Addy MP // Mick Whelan – GS ASLEF // Ruth Hayes – Labour Women’s Committee // Jean Crocker – CAC candidate // Kathy Bole – Disability Labour // Jess Barnard – NEC  :: Gemma Bolton – NEC // Delegates’ Briefing:  Rachel Garnham – CLPD Co-chair
£3 or £1 unwaged

We CAN tackle poverty & inequality – the case for universalism, the welfare state & taxing the rich

Sunday, September 28, 12:30pm, The Racquet Club Hotel, 5 Chapel Street Liverpool L3 9AG. Register here // Share on FB Here & X Here.

With Ian Byrne MP // Neil Duncan-Jordan MP // Sarah Woolley, General Secretary, BFAWU // Simon Fletcher, Political analyst & campaigner // David Wilson, DGS, NEU & Free School Meals for All // Ruth Hayes, Labour Women Leading // Gawain Little, GS, GFTU // Ellen Morrison, Labour NEC, Disabled Members’ Representative.

A vital event in the context of the cost-of-living emergency – & the campaigns around disability benefit cuts, free school meals, the Winter Fuel Allowance & the need to scrap the 2-child benefit cap. Find out about the alternatives to never-ending cuts & spiralling inequality – we CAN end poverty!

Public event – open to all. Refreshments provided. Part of the ‘Arise Solidarity Hub’ during Labour Conference 2025. Presented by ‘Arise – A Festival of Left Ideas’ & the Labour Assembly Against Austerity. All events free but contributions to the costs of hosting the ‘Arise Solidarity Hub’ here essential.

¡Viva la solidaridad! Stand with Latin America Against Trump

Monday September 29, 18.30, Ziba Bar, Racquet Club Hotel, 5 Chapel St, Liverpool L3 9AG. Register here // FB share here // RT here

With special guests from Latin America: Martina Pesce, Argentinian campaigner against the far-right // Dr. Francisco Dominguez // María Perez Ramos, MORENA supporter, Mexico.
Plus: Richard Burgon MP // Jess Barnard, Labour NEC // Louise Regan, National Education Union // Gawain Little, General Federation of Trade Unions // John McDonnell MP.

Join guests from across Latin America in solidarity – where the left is proving a better world is possible, and standing up to Trump’s militarism & xenophobia.

Refreshments provided, including wine & hot food. Public event – open to all. Presented by Arise – A Festival of Left Ideas, Labour Friends of Progressive Latin America, NSCAG, Mexico Solidarity Forum, VSC, Argentina Solidarity, Justice for Colombia, Brazil Solidarity Initiative.

With thanks to hundreds of you who donated,  Thompsons Solicitors & the National Education Union. Part of the ‘Arise Solidarity Hub‘ during Labour Conference 2025. Free event but solidarity donationshere essential to hosting costs.

Change Course – Or Face Defeat

Tuesday, 30th September, 6.30pm, Quaker Meeting House, 22 School Lane, L1 3BT

Co-Chairs: Ollie Hill Momentum/Rachel Garnham CLPD. Speakers: Jess Barnard NEC // Richard Burgon MP // Yasmin Dar NEC // Brian Leishman MP // Gemma Bolton NEC // Cllr Minesh Parekh

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Is whose interests does the government govern?

Christine Shawcroft peeps behind the curtain of democratically elected governments and asks whose interests are actually represented by cutting welfare to increase military spending.

In the golden olden days of the Daily Mirror under the leadership of Hugh Cudlipp, the paper used to specialise in front pages entirely consisting of huge black headlines saying things like, ‘Are we all bloody mad?’. One could be forgiven for thinking that they were several decades ahead of their time.

We no longer have even the shreds of a left-leaning daily press, the Mirror having been consumed by celebrity gossip long ago, and the Guardian having more recently completely capitulated to the British establishment. But if ever an independent media were needed to question the sanity of what is going on worldwide, that time is now.

It is being accepted as normal for multi-national corporations to run the world in their interests, having subverted democracy by the simple expedient of purchasing all the political parties. An American observer recently commented that the US is back in the 19th century, when there was no semblance of democracy and the country was run by the powerful.

Here in Europe, we seem to have been catapulted back into the feudal Middle Ages, when the peasants were kept in line by the aristocracy. We may have the appearance of democratically elected governments, but a close look at what they actually do shows that they certainly aren’t operating in the interests of those who elected them.

The Labour government’s welfare cuts in order to spend more on the military are a case in point. Wildly unpopular, with 71% of Labour members opposed to their measures, the government insists that military spending will benefit the economy and create jobs. And who told them this? Why, the arms manufacturers, of course. The same ones who gave them large donations in the run up to the general election.

Fortunately, we have research done for the Scottish government to back us up. Military spending does not create jobs. The armed forces can kill people more easily at a distance with drones; the role of boots on the ground is rapidly becoming obsolete. Spending on public services creates far more jobs than military spending, and spending on health services creates two and a half times more jobs. So clearly, although the government pretends their focus is on job creation (all the while making cuts which can only lead to job losses), clearly something else is going on.

Keir Starmer insists that the defence of the country has been run down, so he has to commit huge sums of money to national security. Europe is in danger of a Russian invasion, so we all have to spend more and more on weapons.

He seems to think that assuming a leadership role in this new Cold War will enable him to strut around the world stage like Winston Churchill. Yet NATO already vastly outspends the Russians on armaments. Our own country has enough nuclear weapons to destroy the planet five times over.

Add up all the nukes held by all the nuclear powers and there’s enough to destroy the solar system. If we really needed more military spending, we could fund it via a wealth tax, which even Tory voters back. But it is opposed by the wealthy.

Some of the wealthiest are arms firms CEOs. So, they make shedloads from government spending, then hang on to their sheds by lobbying the government party (to which they made huge donations) not to increase their taxes.

Are we all bloody mad?

This article first appeared in the May 2025 edition of Original Labour Briefing

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‘The government is making all the wrong choices’

In an exclusive blog for CND, Diane Abbott MP argues the government is making all the wrong choices, implementing austerity whilst significantly increasing military spending. Concern is not confined to peace activists. Two national newspapers have made the link, with one ‘splashing on its front page that the government is creating a warfare state’.

Abbott’s Early Day Motion, EDM 925 says the billions spent on Trident are a waste of public funds and calls on the government to reverse plans to increase defence spending and redirect funds into public ser vices, international development and climate action. Ask your MP to sign.

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Lakenheath blockade breaks the silence on US nukes returning to Britain

Carol Turner reports on a successful blockade of Lakenheath airbase

Despite government silence, news that US nuclear weapons are returning to Britain is at last beginning to get through. CND members from across the country gathered at the main gate of Lakenheath airbase to join a blockade which marked the end of a successful two-week peace camp, organised by the Lakenheath Alliance for Peace (LAP) coalition.

Lakenheath, in the heart of the Suffolk countryside, has the biggest presence of US military forces in Britain – exposing its less than honest claim to be an RAF base. Lakenheath hosts the US Airforce 48th Fighter Wing, tasked with providing ‘worldwide responsive combat airpower and support’ which is ‘capable of dominating any adversary’.

Palestinians are among the so-called adversaries the US forces based there are currently helping to ‘dominate’. F35 bombers fly from Lakenheath, in support of Israel’s attacks on the Occupied territories.

LAP activities during the April peace camp included a War Crimes and Genocide Day highlighting the complicity of the US, UK, and NATO in Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza. Past attacks from Lakenheath include Libya in 1986 and combat missions against Afghanistan from 2001 and Iraq in 2023. Other peace camp activity days included an international conference attended by guests from across Europe and beyond, and a Greenham Women day. 

Around 250 people took part in the blockade on Saturday 26 April, including two CND coaches from London. An impressive list of banners. I recall seeing them from Wales, York, Plymouth, Quakers, London Peace Pagoda – including nearby Norwich and Cambridge.

Fine weather and a carnival atmosphere notwithstanding, there were seven arrests from among those who chose not to heed the police call to disperse at the end of the afternoon.

CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt said nuclear weapons don’t make us safer, they make us a target. She expressed solidarity with those arrested after the successful three-hour shut down of the main entrance to the base. ‘Rather than arresting people for peacefully protesting the return of US nuclear weapons to Britain,’ Sophie said, ‘the clear violations of international law facilitated by the British government should be investigated.’

Check out:

  • CND’s press release on the blockade
  • Labour CND’s model motion on Lakenheath
  • Visit CND for more information and what you can do.
  • Lakenheath Alliance for Peace is a coalition of local, national, and international groups dedicated to preventing the return of US nuclear weapons to Lakenheath. LAP holds monthly vigils at the base.

This article first appeared in Labour Outlook

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Labour CND’s getting a make-over

Labour CND launched our first podcast, an interview with defence economist Prof Ron Smith on the day of Chancellor Rachel Reeve’s spring statement to parliament. Take a listen, you’ll find Ron has some surprising things to say about the economy, jobs, and Trident.

Introducing podcasts is just part of an overhaul of our all our digital comms. Take a look at our eye-catching social media posts like the ones above, you’ll find us @LabourCND. Watch out for a new improved and regular newsletter next month too; and come back to our re-vamped website which will be up and running in the next couple of months – with more news, views, and analysis from a range of guest contributors .

We’re now on Spotify too. You can also pick our podcasts there if you prefer.. If you do, please remember do give us a like and a follow to help spread the word.

On that point, a big thanks from Labour CND go to Bryn Griffiths, who coordinates Labour Left Podcast, for his support for our new venture. As Bryn put it, we’re the new kids on the podcast block. We’re hoping to get on board with more partner organisations who are podcasting in future.  

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Join CND at the Lakenheath Peace Camp

Desite government silence, news is spreading that US nuclear weapons are coming back to Britain. That’s why Lakenheath airbase in the quiet Suffolk countryside is going to be a hive of activity from 14-26 April.

Lakenheath Alliance for Peace has organised a Peace Camp there, and CND is working with LAP to make it a festival of activities – including an international conference, with guests from across Europe, a climate day, a war crimes & genocide day, a Greenham Common day, and more.

Check out the details and links below.

WHAT THEY SAY

Sophie Bolt CND Gen Sec
Nuclear weapons are the most destructive in the world. They put us all at risk every day. Far from keeping people safe, all these nuclear weapons make Britain a target. Yet the government is more concerned about its special relationship with the US than people’s safety.
The peace camp comes just as we learn that Britain’s cover-up of a US nuclear weapons deployment has been in the works for at least four years, alongside proof that people living close to any US base in this country  are at great risk. We encourage everyone to get involved with the peace camp.

Angie Zelter Lakenheath Alliance for Peace co-founder
It is horrifying and shameful that USAF Lakenheath, on British soil and with the connivance of the UK government is involved in war crimes and genocide. Pilots from Israel and Saudi Arabia are trained at Lakenheath and US planes and bombs go out to take part in the bombings in Gaza and Yemen. We are here to say this is not in our name.

Ginnie Herbet Greenham Common Woman
Women who protested at Greenham in the 1980s are now protesting at the return of US nukes to Lakenheath. Cruise missiles left Greenham Common, international law changed and the Common was handed back to the people. Forty years later and here we are protesting again as secret decisions are made and US nuclear weapons return to Lakenheath.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Get the Peace Camp programme and find out more about LAP here

Check if a CND group in your area can offer transport to the Peace Camp here

Learn what more CND wants you to do to stop US nukes here

Watch London CND’s podcast with Angie Zelter here

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In conversation with defence economist Prof Ron Smith on military spending, jobs, and Trident

Labour CND recently launched into a new venture for us: podcasting. Our first was released the day after the Chancellor’s spring statement: a conversation with Ron Smith that produced some interesting responses.

We asked Ron if a bigger MoD budget would benefit the British economy, and if more military spending meant more jobs. His responses were revealing. But when we asked about Trident, the answer was franker than any you might expect from an economist:

‘Trident, I feel, is a complete waste of money
– and when I say that to military audiences
two thirds of them applaud’

Ron is Emeritus Professor of Applied Economics at Birkbeck, University of London, where he’s researched on the economics of arms trading and defence policy for many years and published a long list of articles and books. He’s advised the Treasury and been a consultant to the National Audit Office, so we reckon he knows a thing or two.

Our conversation with Ron is well worth a half-hour listen. If you do, and if you like what Labour CND’s doing – please give us a like, give us a follow, and come back for more.

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MODEL MOTION on US nuclear weapons returning to Lakenheath

As the successful blockade of Lakenheath airbase at the end of April demonstrated, word is getting round that the British government is permitting US nuclear weapons back into Britain, as the establishment last year of Lakenheath Alliance for Peace testifies. LAP now holds  regular vigils at the base, and has organised a successful two-week peace camp with more to follow.. But did you know that the British government has never acknowledged that US nuclear weapons will be returning to Britain’s shores?

MPs who asked questions in parliament when it first became known in 2022 were answered by James Heappey, a Defence Minister at the time, that the Ministry of Defence was ‘unable to comment on US spending decisions and capabilities, which are a matter for the US Government. It remains longstanding UK and NATO policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at a given location.’

Parliament ever been allowed to debate, let alone vote on, the return of US nuclear weapons. This just isn’t good enough. Labour CND urges supporters to raise the issue in your local Labour Party.

This [Branch /CLP] notes

A.            There is evidence that the United States plans to station nuclear weapons at the US Airforce base in Lakenheath, Suffolk, 70 miles from London.

B.            There has been no consultation. The public was not asked about this, nor was parliament.

C.           The plans are unpopular with voters. 17 years ago in 2008, sustained protests by CND and local groups led to nuclear bombs being removed from Lakenheath. Despite the secrecy, there is growing publicity.

D.           There were near-misses last time US nuclear bombs were at Lakenheath. Yet investigations by CND’s legal team indicate that there are no emergency plans in place in the event of nuclear accidents involving these new US B61-12 bombs.

E.            CND is launching a legal challenge against both Suffolk County Council and the Secretary of State for Defence over the serious safety risks of siting US nuclear weapons at Lakenheath, arguing that if these nuclear bombs are at Lakenheath, the Council and the Ministry of Defence could be in breach of their statutory obligations under emergency radiation regulations.

This [Branch/CLP] believes

1.            The plans would make us a target in a nuclear war between the US and Russia, at a time when the risk of nuclear war is growing. These US B61-12 nuclear bombs are described as ‘battlefield’ nuclear weapons and are designed to be used in war.

2.            The government, without any public consultation or parliamentary debate, is making us a target and putting us at risk from nuclear accidents without any emergency plans in place.

This [Branch/CLP] resolves to

a) support CND’s campaign to stop the deployment of these bombs
b) inform members on the issues by circulating material on Lakenheath airbase and peace camp activities there, and
c) holding a discussion and invite a CND speaker.