Dozens of ceremonies were held across Britain to commemorate the atomic bombing of Japan in 1945. Labour CND’s Ruth Brown is pictured here (second left) at Tavistock Square Gardens in central London. At a conservative estimate, 250,000 were killed as a result of US bombs dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August and Nagasaki on 9 August, and second and third generation Hibakusha are still suffering the effects.
We held our annual conference and general meeting recently, with a focus on Trident, Jobs and Defence Diversification. Take a look at our conference programme and speakers here – and put next year’s conference date in your diary now: Saturday 2 February 2019.
Read about our committee, our 2018 AGM, and priorities for 2018 here.
Labour CND is holding a workshop on Trump and the nuclear danger at the Arise Festival of Labour’s Left Ideas in London, 10am on Saturday 28 July at Student Central, Malet Street, WC1E 7HY.
Speakers are Christine Blower (former General Secretary NUT), Ted Seay (US arms control specialist) and Carol Turner (Labour CND).
Festival details here:
http://labourassemblyagainstausterity.org.uk/arise-a-festival-of-labours-left-ideas/
www.facebook.com/ariselabourleftfestival
Topics include
Speakers include
Admission Free * All welcome
Followed by Labour CND AGM
Labour CND is a specialist section of CND. If you’re a member of CND and of the Labour Party, you’re eligible and welcome to participate in our annual meeting.
Need more info? Contact labourcnd@gmail.com
Julie Ward MEP is a peace activist and member of Labour CND Executive Committee. In a recent speech to the European Parliament, she argued:
Prospects of peace between the two Koreas are unexpectedly encouraging. In our support of the talks, we must focus on young people who are essential to any lasting peacebuilding processes. Young Koreans on both sides of the border have different perspectives from their elders and they should be given a voice in the peace talks.
Women also have a crucial role to play when it comes to peacebuilding so involving them in the process is a way to ensure that peace is more sustainable and more inclusive.
I am aware that the process in the Korean peninsula is still fragile. However, I believe that any step forward is good, even a baby step, as it is one-step closer to peace and to nuclear de-escalation. In the current global context, it is hugely important for us to support disarmament campaigns.
It is particularly important that the European Parliament support all efforts at the United Nations level to make the use of nuclear weapons illegal for ALL states under any circumstances.
CND members old and new gathered at Aldermaston on Easter Sunday commemorating the Campaign’s 60th birthday by remembering our roots in the Easter marches to the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment. Labour CND members were among the hundreds who gathered there on Easter Sunday 2018.
Veteran nuclear disarmament campaigner and Labour CND Chair Walter Wolfgang (pictured below) was awarded this year’s Ron Todd Peace Prize in a ceremony at the Marx Memorial Library in March.
Todd was General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, predecessor of Unite from 1985 until his retirement in 1992. He led Britain’s biggest union in the years when nuclear disarmament was at the heart of Labour’s annual conference debates. After his death in 2005, the Rod Todd Foundation was set up and has awarded annual prizes for outstanding achievement in areas close to the former General Secretary’s heart.
CND General Secretary Kate Hudson (pictured right) launched her new book, CND at 60: Britain’s most enduring mass movement, at Friends House on 8 March. In conversation with Victoria Brittain (pictured left), she discussed what prompted her to update CND’s history and read passages from her book before answering audience questions.
Labour CND supporters were in evidence at the protest over Mohammad bin Salman’s state visit on 7 March, including Hannah Kemp-Welch pictured here. Hundreds gathered at Downing Street to tell Prime Minister Theresa May ‘Crown Prince Not Welcome’.
Shadow International Development Secretary Kate Osamor spoke at the rally, as did Labour MPs Andy Slaughter, Chris Williamson, and others. The Green Party was there too, represented by Deputy Leader Amelia Womack, and Sinn Fein by Joe Dwyer. Earlier in the day Jeremy Corbyn made a strong statement in parliament denouncing Saudi’s abysmal human rights record.
