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Real security, lessons from the pandemic

CND’s 2020 annual conference on 18 October had a great line up, including a keynote speech from Jeremy Corbyn MP. Take a look below. He wrote later: ‘Thanks to everyone for the conference. It felt strange not being at a real conference and talking to old friends. However, it shows just what we can do with good communications.’

You can watch still watch Jeremy’s keynote speech and the roundtable with Tom Unterrainer from the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation in conversation with Prof Paul Rogers, Newham Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz and Unison’s Asst Gen Sec Roger McKenzie

There are two extracurricular activities available until the end of October, just click on the images below


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Hear #GV6 candidates on peace and internationalism

Labour CND asks our supporters to vote for the Grassroots Voice candidates for constituency places on the Labour Party National Executive Committee. Why? Because these candidates are committed to nuclear disarmament as part of a peaceful, internationalist platform for Labour.

Hear what each of the #GV6 candidates have to say on international policy, click on the images below:

Gemma Bolton


Yasmine Dar

Ann Henderson


Nadia Jama

Laura Pidcock


Mish Rahman

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Ann Henderson on Trident

Labour CND and Arise, A Festival of Labour’s Left Ideas jointly organised a Foreign Policy Q&A webinar with Grassroots Voice candidates for Labour’s National Executive Committee. Ann Henderson reviewed Scottish Labour’s position on Trident.

Visit Labour CND’s YouTube channel to hear what all #GV6 candidates had to say on Froeign Policy – Gemma Bolton, Yasmine Dar, Nadia Jama, Laura Pidcock, and Mish Rahman

Register here for #GrassrootsVoice #GV6 Rally with Jeremy Corbyn and others on 15 October

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CND annual conference

CND’s annual conference takes place in two parts this year. Real security, lessons from the pandemic, on Sunday 18 October 14.00 to 16.30, with Jeremy Corbyn MP, is open to everyone.

Cllr Rokhsana Fiaz, Mayor of Newham, and Tom Unterrainer of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, join international security specialist Professor Paul Rogers of Bradford University Peace Studies Department and others for a discussion on real security in the post-pandemic world.

There are workshops on Visions of a green world, Security for the many, and Creative campaigning, plus Crane making and an online exhibition Time, Memory and Nuclear Weapons, curated by Hannah Kemp-Welch.

The conference is open to everyone, but please register in advance

Our members-only 2020 annual general meeting and policy conference, Campaigning in the post-virus world, is held a week earlier on Saturday October 10, details here.

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Labour NEC elections

Nominations for the Constituency Labour Party places on Labour’s National Executive Committee have closed. All six Grassroots Voice candidates are on the ballot, and the battle for votes is on. Labour CND Co-Chair CAROL TURNER reports.

A total of 454 local Labour Parties made nominations, which LabourList claims is the highest number in any NEC election, Of the 66 candidates who sought nomination for the 9 CLP places, 42 have won the 5 nominations needed to make it onto the ballot paper.
Labour CND urges support for ‘the #GV six candidates. We did so because they are the  one group of candidates standing on an internationalist manifesto, explicitly committed to peace and nuclear disarmament.

Momentum, Campaign for Labour Party Democracy, and Labour Representation Committee are among the 13 Centre Left Grassroots Alliance organisations backing #GV candidates. A CLPD spokesperson welcomed the good results for the six, saying that nominations showed ‘there is mainstream support amongst Labour members for defending a socialist policy agenda and democratic rights for members’.

The campaign to win support is far from over. The first time use of an STV voting system, as opposed to first past the post, makes it much harder for candidates to cross the finish line. A divided vote for the NEC by-elections in February saw progressive candidates lose places that could otherwise have been won. Watch this space for information about STV, and tips on how to rank your favourite candidates.

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Party members decisively reject Trident replacement

The results of a recent LabourList survey confirm that the overwhelming majority of party members want to scrap Trident. In a poll of 7,197 readers, 80.9% of whom were party members, only 12.3% supported Trident renewal.

Paticipants in LabourList’s survey were asked which of a list of policies in Labour’s 2019 general election manifesto the party should continue to support. The results are below. Only two policies failed to achieve majority backing. With 49.6% fast and free broadband fell just short of a majority, but renewing Trident was decisively rejected .

Policies with majority support were:
* Cut the substantial majority of carbon emissions by 2030 (82%)
* Create one million green jobs (74%)
* Close tax loopholes enjoyed by private schools (73%)
* Increase income tax for those earning over £80,000 (71%)
* Nationalise mail, rail, energy and water (67%)
* Repeal anti-trade union legislation (64%)
* Scrap tuition fees (61%)
* Extend full voting rights to all UK residents (61%)
* Set up a publicly owned generic drug company (60.5%)
* Compensate the WASPI women (57%)
* Maximum pay ratios of 20:1 in the public sector (56%)
* Aim for 32-hour working week within a decade (51%)

The LabourList result confirms a YouGov poll for The Times on the eve of Labour’s 2019 annual conference, which showed 70% of the 1,185 Labour Party members sampled wanted to scrap Britain’s nuclear weapons system.

Read LabourList‘s survey results here

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EVENT: Labour, Peace & Internationalism

THURSDAY 17 SEPTEMBER at 19:00
Join Gemma Bolton, Yasmine Dar, Ann Henderson, Nadia Jama, Laura Pidcock, and Mish Rahman, for a discussion about Labour’s foreign policy.

Centre Left Grassroots Alliance candidates for Labour’s National Executive Committee have all signed up to an ethical foreign policy agenda. They want a Labour Party that’s independent and internationalist, with peace, conflict-resolution, and nuclear disarmament at the heart of international policy.

The six #GrassrootsVoice candidates will pitch for Labour to support people struggling against oppression across the globe, rather than participate in illegal foreign wars. This is your chance to question them further and get involved with their campaign.

Register to attend here

Retweet here and help spread the word

Share and invite on Facebook here

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Corbyn backs NEC candidates

Jeremy Corbyn was quick to tweet his support for the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance candidates for Labour’s NEC elections which take place over the summer. The Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs has also backed them, saying: ‘As the left grouping within the Parliamentary Labour Party, the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs formally endorses the @CLGALabour slate for the National Executive Committee Elections.’

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Meet the NEC candidates committed to nuclear disarmament

Image courtesey of Campaign for Labour Party Democracy

All six left candidates standing for election as CLP representatives in Labour’s NEC election 2020 are committee to nuclear disarmament and an ethical foreign policy.

The Labour left’s commitment to equalities and and diversity – in practice as well as theory – is clear. Take a look at the photos, 5 of the 6 candidates are women, 4 are people of colour.

The Centre Left Grassroots Alliance (CLGA) slate includes two sitting candidates, Ann Henderson and Yasmin Dar. Ann chairs the NEC’s equalities committee; Yasmin chairs the disputes panel. A third candidate, Laura Pidcock was MP for North West Durham and a member of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs.

In alphabetical order the candidates are:

Ann Henderson @AnnDHenderson
Gemma Bolton @gembolton
Laura Pidcock @LauraPidcock
Mish Rahman @mish_rahman
Nadia Jama @MizJama
Yasmine Dar @Yasmine_Dar

Read about each of them here

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The NEC candidates we need

Labour CND is pleased to support the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance (CLGA) slate of candidates who are standing for election as CLP reps in the forthcoming NEC elections. All six candidates make clear their commitment to nuclear disarmament in a joint statement:

An ethical foreign policy – Labour should have an independent, internationalist foreign policy the core objectives of which should be peace, conflict-resolution, and nuclear disarmament. Rather than participating in illegal foreign wars, we should support people struggling against oppression across the globe.

Candidates are standing for a transformative Labour government, socialist policies and party democracy. The campaign statement, Campaigning for a Labour Victory also includes commitments to:

– defend people’s lives and jobs as the priority in the coronavirus pandemic
– a socialist Labour government as the best vehicle for transforming society in the interests of the majority
– an economy for the many, rejecting the Tories austerity agenda
– a socialist green new deal, investing in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure and building support for a rapid and just transition to a zero-carbon economy
– stand with the Black Lives Matter movement to achieve lasting structural change, and campaign against all forms of racism, discrimination and prejudice, and
– party democracy – to build an inclusive party which represents the interests of the majority in society.

This united left slate is supported by Momentum, Campaign for Labour Party Democracy, Labour Assembly Against Austerity, Labour Representation Committee, Campaign for Socialism Scotland, Wales Labour Grassroots…. and many more.