campaign

THE MAGAZINE OF THE CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT AUTUMN 2011

The Great Trident Job Threat

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, 162 Holloway Rd, London N7 8DQ Tel: 020 7700 2393 Fax: 020 7700 2357 enquiries@cnduk.org www.cnduk.org

Inside
Party Conference lobbying Drones the war of terror The rise of liberal interventionism New Trident and Jobs briefing

CND

9/11: Ten years on Challenging nuclear new-build

Editorial

The lessons of history

disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. In the same year Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit the earth. At the height of the Cold Wars space race this was a political and scientific triumph for the Soviet Union as it resulted in major advances in missile technology. Developments in space technology and the advance of the military industrial complex have led to space becoming militarised. Wars are now managed and controlled through satellite technology. The US military uses space for intelligence gathering, targeting and battle management. Further developments have been made with military robots and remotely controlled systems such as armed drones. over the world will include one by the Gangjeong villagers on Jeju Island in South Korea. They are threatened with the construction of an enormous naval base that would destroy both their way of life and also their environment a stunningly beautiful World Heritage site. The US is encouraging this destruction so that their ship-borne missile defence systems can be based nearer China. Hundreds of villagers have already been arrested in their non-violent struggle against the building of this monstrous obscenity on Peace Island. Their courage and resolution is manifest by their Mayors decision to join Mayors for Peace while in prison for taking part in the protest, helping it to reach a total worldwide membership of 5,000! And it was ten years ago, following the 9/11 attacks, that the war in Afghanistan began. The US and UK joined forces and launched products of the military industrial complex Operation Enduring Suffering and killer drones on the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Thousands of us are demonstrating against this at a rally in Trafalgar Square on 8th October. In CND we have become used to long-term struggles and it is so important to keep up your local and regional actions against Trident and its replacement. With diligence and insistence we can break through the nonsense of the outdated deterrence argument. It may take time but it will happen. The UK is broke, lets fix it by dumping our ridiculously expensive and hideously dangerous Trident system and direct our time and energy towards more worthwhile projects. As well as being a giant leap for humankind towards global nuclear disarmament, it would be a proud and historic moment to commemorate!

Dave Webb, CND Chair

N THE LAST ISSUE of Campaign we highlighted that it was 30 years ago that the Greenham Common Womens Peace Camp was established. Their imagination and persistence over many years was a significant contribution towards the removal of all intermediate range nuclear missiles from Europe. But this is not the only anniversary we should remember. Fifty years ago, in 1961, thousands joined the first sit-down protests against US Polaris nuclear missiles outside the Ministry of Defence in London and at Holy Loch in Scotland. Many people involved then are still active in CND, and continue to demonstrate against Trident. Their persistence is yet to be rewarded in the same way as the Greenham Womens but it will be! Two other important events occurred in 1961. First, US President Dwight Eisenhower, in his farewell speech, issued this amazing warning to the world: In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
US President Dwight Eisenhower,1961

Recognition of the importance of these issues is growing. Activists around the world will be highlighting them in protests and actions during Keep Space for Peace Week from 1st-8th October. A new peace camp set up at RAF Waddington (from where the UK may soon control its drones) will be part of this (see back page). Demonstrations all

Opinions expressed by authors in Campaign are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the policies of CND.

Campaigns

Lobbying inside and out

CND took the Trident debate to the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green Party conferences in September. We led discussions and shared our arguments with MPs, activists and policy formers at numerous fringe meetings, reports Parliamentary Officer, Ben Folley.

N SEPTEMBER we took our message to the streets too. In a new approach to lobbying Labour delegates, we arranged for Liverpool buses to carry CND Scrap Trident adverts (see opposite). The slogan on the buses echoed our campaigning call at the TUCs March for the Alternative earlier in the year. On the buses for four weeks, the adverts were paid for by an incredibly generous response to a fundraising appeal. During the Conservative conference in Manchester, local CND members are joining the TUCs most recent March for the Alternative with our Scrap Trident placards*. Our theme throughout the conferences has been to question not only the immense cost of Trident, but also its relevance to the UKs security needs. Ahead of the conference season, a report by the House of Commons Defence Committee had already criticised the findings of the Coalitions Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). The Committee argues that the defence review needs to be re-opened. This adds weight to our criticism of the Coalitions decision to guarantee Trident funding, especially since the governments new National Security Strategy states that nuclear conflict is increasingly unlikely. Lib Dems could choose antinuclear stance At the CND fringe meeting at the Liberal Democrats conference Kate Hudson discussed Trident with Steve Gilbert MP. Kate pointed out that with Trident increasingly questioned even in military circles, it was vital that Nick Harveys Trident Alternatives Review considers non-replacement. In another conference

Many excited members and supporters contacted us after having spotted our CND adverts on local buses passing the Labour Party conference centre.

meeting, Harvey highlighted an interest in the possibility of dual-use submarines which could be nuclear and conventionally armed. He suggested that such subs could then continue to be used if the UK scrapped nuclear weapons in the future. Importantly for us, he also said that the party might still choose an antinuclear stance at the next election. Miliband open to change At the Labour Party Conference, our packed fringe meeting heard insights into the partys policy debate (launched by Ed Miliband). Neil Findlay, a Member of the Scottish Parliament, emphasised how the SNPs anti-Trident and anti-war stance had been to their significant electoral advantage in recent years. He believes that Labour has paid the price for

Take Action
MPs are calling for a full Trident review before the next election. 68 have now signed EDM 1924 Trident Review but this is not enough. Get everyone you know to ask their MP to sign the EDM by using the simple e-mail tool linked to our home page www.cnduk.org

disconnecting from a population that rejects war and nuclear weapons. Discussing the possibility of a party policy change, Sam Gurney, a National Policy Forum representative, urged everyone to coordinate submissions to the party leadership. He believes that Ed Miliband is open to change on Trident. With Unites Len McCluskey and Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls beside her on the panel, Kate Hudson addressed the conferences Tribune rally later in the week. Our job is to make sure that Ed Balls looks at the financial case against Trident replacement again. The response at both conferences reveals a hunger within the parties supporters for a more radical policy challenging the case for Trident replacement. The Lib Dems Trident review is welcome, but many activists believe there should be a commitment to scrap Trident at the next election. Within the Labour Party there is more caution, but growing hope that Ed Miliband will re-open the Trident debate. In both cases it is clear that pressure from grassroots members and activists must be stepped up. *At the time of going to press, CNDs fringe meeting with Kate Hudson and Penny Mordaunt MP debating Trident replacement at Conservative Party Conference has not yet taken place.

Opinion

A war of terror
This summer, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) revealed that in the last seven years armed drone strikes in Pakistan have reportedly killed over 160 children. These strikes, carried out by the CIA, are supposed to target terrorists and insurgents with pin point accuracy. Such targeted killings across national borders have been condemned by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The New America Foundation estimates that a third of casualties are civilians. The Pakistan Body Counts assessment is even higher: 50 civilians for every combatant killed, making a total of up to 2,420 civilians killed and 959 injured by drones since 2004, reports Dave Webb, CND Chair.

HE US now deploys armed drones (the military prefers to call them remotely piloted or unmanned aerial vehicles) in six countries Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, Libya and Somalia. Their pilots are safely seated some 7,000 miles away from the victims. Their increasing use shows that the war on terror is actually a war OF terror! No wonder then that there are widespread demonstrations against their use in Pakistan. The devastation and loss of civilian life they cause are also considered a major factor in recruiting more people for the terrorist cause. Nuclear weapons on robotic planes Despite the protests, the Pentagon plans to double its military arsenal of drones in the next ten years. Most of its future military planes are likely to be robotic; plans exist to build a new fleet of 80-100 long-range nuclear capable bombers that could operate with or without a pilot on board. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing already have robot planes that look very much like stealth bombers. They are also developing UACVs Unmanned Aerial Combat Vehicles capable of making their own decisions about manoeuvring and targeting in battle. A future in which nuclear-armed robot planes are able to make their own combat decisions must be strenuously opposed! UK drones The MoD acknowledges the serious legal and moral issues arising from the use of armed drones. Their recent Joint Doctrine Note on the matter recognised that the role of humans in

deciding if and when missiles should be launched is being eroded. By lowering the threshold when attacks might be considered, drones make war more likely. Young military personnel raised on a diet of video games now kill people remotely using joysticks... Far removed from the human consequences of their actions, how will this generation of fighters value the right to life? Nevertheless, the MoD has been using armed US Reaper drones in Afghanistan since 2007, and 178 armed attacks have been carried out since the first one in 2008. The government has recently announced that it plans to double the number of these drones to ten at a cost of 135 million. Currently, they are flown by RAF pilots from the US, but a new Reaper Squadron is being established to control them from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire see back page about a new peace camp set up there.
Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur and Hina Shmasi, New York University

Last December, David Cameron announced that British drone attacks have killed 124 people but they were all insurgents. The MoD has now admitted that Afghan civilians were killed in a British drone strike in July. It either doesnt know or doesnt want to know about civilian casualties. However, an Oxford Research Group report recalls that under international law the MoD is required to record and announce civilian casualties in each attack. When will the MoD be issuing its figures on this? Remotely controlled vehicles could be used for many other constructive purposes: weather monitoring, disaster relief, remote rescue to name a few. The UK Drones Campaign Network will be part of this years Keep Space for Peace Week (organised by the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space) which is focusing on military killer drones. Plan a visit to the RAF Waddington peace camp and join us on 16th October for a Day of Action at Menwith Hill the US spy base which provides much of the information for drone strikes.

In the news
Risk of accidents increasing at MoD nuclear sites While billions are being spent on Trident replacement, Rob Edwards, writing in The Guardian, reports on an MoD Defence Nuclear Environment and Safety Board internal report which tells about the serious issue of a lack of adequate resource to deliver the defence nuclear programmes safely. Safety cutbacks, says the report, have led to an unacceptable level of incidents at military nuclear sites and increased risks to the workforce and public. Rolls Royce expands further into civil nuclear power Yet more evidence of the interconnected nature of the nuclear power and weapons industries is revealed by Rolls Royces latest acquisition of a US specialist nuclear services company. And trumpeted by the press was its new agreement to collaborate over civil nuclear power with the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom. David Cameron publically welcomed the latter deal when he met the Russian president in Moscow. Like Rolls Royce, Rosatom also produces the reactors that power nuclear and conventionally-armed submarines. Dounreay coastline contaminated forever The beaches, coastline and seabed around the Dounreay nuclear plant in Scotland will never be completely free of radioactive contamination according to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). From 1963 to 1984 the plant leaked tens of thousands of radioactive particles (some lethally toxic) into the sea. Sellafield MOX plant to close After wasting over 1.4 billion, the MOX plant at Sellafield is finally being closed down. Opened in 2001, despite sustained opposition from groups such as CND, it produced less MOX fuel in its whole lifetime than it was expected to make every two months. The impact of Fukushima has meant it cannot depend on Japanese contracts to continue operating. Romania and Turkey sign up for US missile defence Obamas plans to expand the US missile defence system into Europe moved a step forward in September with Romania inking an official agreement with the US to host its SM-3 missiles. In that month too, Turkey signed an agreement with NATO to host a radar facility at a military base in the southeast of the country. Local people have been demonstrating because of health fears about the radar. Fatal explosion at French nuclear plant Widely reported was how four workers were injured, one very seriously, and another killed by an explosion in the furnace at a radioactive waste facility at the Marcoule nuclear plant in southern France. There was concern about radiation leaks which authorities claimed were not detected.

Day of Action at Menwith Hill

Sunday 16th October 2011 from 12.30-3pm
Join us for a lively demonstration, peace picnic and a tour of the base. Near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Menwith Hill is run by the US National Security Agency (NSA), operates outside US law and is not accountable under British law. It is part of a global network of bases used to spy on all forms of international telecommunications including private phone calls and emails and is crucial for the intelligence-gathering necessary for any US-led military attack. In 2007, one day before Parliamentary summer recess, the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that Menwith Hill would be included in the US Missile Defence system with no democratic debate, consultation or accountability. See the Yorkshire CND website for information on coach transport from Bradford University at www.yorkshirecnd.org.uk/menwithaction or call Dominic on 01274 730 795.

9/11: Ten years on

In September 2001, CNDs annual conference took place just days after the tragic events of 9/11. The conference was overwhelmingly united in condemning the attacks, but also united in condemning all forms of terrorism, by states too, and not just by non-state actors. CND strongly supported the aim of capturing and bringing to justice those suspected of the crimes. But we were also united in the view that war was not the answer and that war against a whole nation Afghanistan was the likely target at that time was wrong and would result in many more innocent deaths. The events of the past ten years have shown this to be true, as Marion Birchs account of the health and mortality consequences of subsequent wars shows. But sadly, Daniel Blaneys article on our governments continued backing for interventionist wars explains that the tragic lessons of the past ten years have not yet been learned.

9/11: A continuing tragedy

2001: Demonstration against war in Afghanistan

Marion Birch, Medact

EN YEARS AFTER the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre, reports of the sorrow of those who had lost family and friends are accompanied by an ongoing debate about the number of deaths caused. The officially recognised number of 2,976 deaths is not the final estimate. The directly attributable longer term health effects, such as asthma, particularly as a consequence of the dust created and post-traumatic stress disorder, are difficult to establish. Every death should be documented and hold equal weight. There is no comfort for those that have lost loved ones in the United States, Afghanistan or Iraq in comparing 2,976 deaths with the hundreds of thousands of excess deaths from the war on terror triggered by the attacks. This was a massively disproportionate response, and the resulting number of civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan has since been played down. The number of civilian deaths resulting from the war on Afghanistan continues to rise. In the initial absence of clear and

coordinated recording, the aggregation of various estimates of civilian deaths between 2001-2003 (direct and indirect) is estimated at 6,300 23,600. The United Nations Assistant Mission to Afghanistan recorded 368 conflict-related civilian deaths in May 2011 the highest monthly figure so far. Tragically, the attacks on the World Trade Centre were also used to justify the invasion of Iraq, despite well-known doubts about any links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. In 2006 a survey published in The Lancet estimated deaths since the invasion of Iraq to be 654,965. The events of 9/11 have also been used to undermine international law designed to prevent disproportionate and indiscriminate responses to violent attacks. Drawn up by countries following the Second World War, the laws of war or Geneva Conventions establish rules to try to mitigate the human cost of conflict, particularly for civilians, injured combatants, and prisoners of war. Their key principles of proportionality (to likely military advantage) and discrimination (between combatants and civilians) should play a particularly important part in limiting death, sickness

and injury. Yet 9/11 acted as a trigger to question them, which has persisted despite legal judgements, and ignoring them has resulted in many more tragic civilian casualties in the war on terror. There were dire consequences for those detained during these wars. The US government denied the protection afforded to prisoners of war by the Geneva Conventions on the grounds that those they detained were unlawful or enemy combatants despite the opinion of international legal experts, Amnesty International and others. This created a climate of impunity which had severe and now well-known consequences [Guantanamo Bay interrogation techniques using torture] for the health of these prisoners. 9/11 was used to push the concept of the new wars and to suggest that this was a totally new situation in which the old rules did not apply. But this view ignored numerous recent conflicts that had many of the characteristics of the new wars: Mozambiques war of independence and subsequent conflict, the battle for Katanga province in what was then Zaire, to name but a few. This was really just part of the excuse to ignore the universal principles of the Geneva Conventions; a convenient way to wipe the slate clean, ignore past accountability issues and justify unlawful action. The result has been the use of a catastrophic and tragic event to create death, injury, disability and destruction on an unimaginable scale. Marions account is based on a fuller, referenced article available on the CND website. See www.medact.org for more details of their work.

Liberal interventionism: an excuse for yet another war

Daniel Blaney, CND Vice-Chair

HE PEACE MOVEMENT has been on continuous high alert for ten years. We have had liberal intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq and most recently in Libya. Even before 11th September 2001, we had NATO intervention in Yugoslavia and regular US/UK bombing raids over the misnamed no fly zone of Iraq. During this time, public opinion in the UK has shifted against military action. It remains mostly loyal to servicemen and women in the armed forces but this period has seen significant decline in support for politicians decisions. Each war appears to have been less popular than the previous one. In 1999 in a speech in Chicago, Tony Blair set out a position which many regard as the bible of liberal interventionism. Blair cemented this by supporting the invasion of Iraq. Subsequently, people questioned whether this doctrine would outlive his premiership. David Cameron actually critiqued liberal interventionism in a 2007 speech to his German sister party in an attempt to distance himself from Blair. However, despite the publics unease and the present Prime Ministers earlier response to this, it is clear that many politicians are determined to make sure liberal interventionism lives on. While the public has been sceptical of the recent military intervention in Libya, Westminster (and much of the media) has been overwhelmingly in favour. Successive wars have resulted in what is now a familiar but repetitive line of argument for any international crisis that Britain cant stand idly by. At that point the peace movement is expected to acquiesce to the political elites charge towards another military conflict.

2011: Ten years later, the tragic lessons of the past have not been learnt

Jim Murphy, the shadow Defence Secretary rejoices: Thousands are today alive thanks to NATO. A new Libya is on the horizon. His attitude to the future is manifest when he continues: defence must be viewed as more than reactive military conflict management but also pre-emptive deterrence of aggression and the circumstances in which it thrives, sitting as part of our wider foreign and development policy. In other words, Britain should

prepare for more wars to assert its values across the world. No mention is made of the important roles of diplomacy and dialogue, or how to end Britains repulsive love affair with the arms trade. As CND Council Member and MP Caroline Lucas said in the House of Commons: we cannot ignore our own complicity in arriving at this point. We cannot continue to arm regimes that abuse their own citizens, and try to claim the moral high ground when addressing the conflicts that those same arms have helped to perpetuate. The disconnect between the language of the political class and the publics opposition to war requires a response from the peace movement. Pro-war politicians want us to move on from Iraq by categorising the war as an aberration. But the peace movement and the public want to move on from war altogether. As Yasmin Qureshi MP warned at the outset of the intervention in Libya: In the past 10 or 12 years, America, ourselves and others have spent trillions of dollars on being involved in conflicts in the Middle East, and what have we left? We have not resolved any of the situations involved or made countries any better than when we went into them. A stronger peace movement in Britain is vital. CNDs first strategic objective includes the prevention and cessation of wars in which nuclear weapons might be used. We have a critical role to play therefore in opposing UK involvement in the nuclear-armed NATO wars of liberal interventionism. It is a code for an approach to western politics that says the way to approach world politics is to have war after war after war.

Interview with Angie Zelter

Regardless of Fukushima, the government is still willfully driving ahead with plans for new nuclear power. Hinkley Point, on the Severn Estuary in Somerset, is the first site planned for new nuclear build and so Stop New Nuclear (a new alliance of which CND is a member) made it the place for the first of many actions. Angie Zelter, a key organiser of the Mass Blockade on the 3rd October, tells Campaigns Officer Dawn Rothwell why she thinks it is important to join in such actions.
Why do you think blockading Hinkley is an important part of the strategy to oppose new nuclear power build? Creating a powerful movement against nuclear power, so that the government can hear, see and feel the opposing outcry, needs a full spectrum of actions. The 3rd October Hinkley blockade was the start of sustained civil resistance. These non-violent direct actions are a necessary and vital part of the movement. They provide people with a way to demonstrate their power to put pressure on politicians to change their policies away from nuclear to more sustainable, saner energy production policies using technology such as solar, wind and wave power. However powerful the government and the nuclear lobby are, they can never stand up to sustained popular resistance. It is up to all of us who want to stop new nuclear to provide that people power. You are a seasoned activist in non-violent direct action, what has been your most memorable experience blockading? Perhaps the most memorable was in Nuxalk territory in British Columbia, Canada, in 1995 when I was with a group of international environmentalists who joined with the local indigenous Nuxalk people of Bella Coola. We travelled by boat to a beautiful area of ancient temperate rainforest. This belonged to the Nuxalk, but was being invaded and logged by Canadian timber companies. Our blockade was joined by a black bear who obviously approved of our action! This blockade interlinked all those issues that are closest to my heart international solidarity as global citizens, the land rights and human rights of indigenous people, protection of the environment and especially of ancient forests, and resistance to unsustainable economic exploitation of natural resources. What is the most creative action youve ever seen or been part of? This is a difficult question as most actions are creative in one way or another. But perhaps the most creative was in July 2004 when around 17 of us sang the 20 minute 'Trident is a War Crime' Oratorio (especially written for us by composer, Camilla Cancantata) in Parliament Hall, Edinburgh to various surprised judges and lawyers (see www.tridentploughshares.org /article715 on the Trident Ploughshares website). The music, both moving and tragic, re-inspired us all to continue with our legal challenges to the UK government to uphold international law and stop its preparation of war crimes, which is what deploying Trident is all about. Perhaps the most spontaneous and fun action though was in March 1998. I was one of four women who 'borrowed' a police boat at Coulport and drove it into the explosives handling jetty and then into the next Loch into Faslane. Two women then began to swim out to the Trident submarine moored there before we were apprehended. The look on the police faces when they saw we were a bunch of women handling a police boat was worth the trial when we were charged with theft. We won the case as we were easily able to prove that we did not mean to permanently deprive the police of their property but were putting it to its proper use investigating crime! What would you say to someone who was thinking about joining a blockade but who was concerned about being arrested? Explore why you are concerned in a non-violent workshop, watch and support others on blockades, form or join a supportive affinity group. Understand that you become stronger by confronting and overcoming your fears. Know that change becomes possible through civil resistance actions like blockading. If the action is nonviolent and you approve of others doing it then you can probably do it too. Angie Zelter is a peace, human rights and environmental campaigner. She is the recipient of several peace prizes and has founded several civil disobedience campaigns including Trident Ploughshares. She has written books including 'Trident on Trial the case for people's disarmament', and 'Faslane 365 a year of anti-nuclear blockades', an inspiring book about a year of highly creative anti-nuclear blockades that you can order from www.tridentploughshares.org

Campaigns

Turning towards a nuclear-free world

Activists express their opinion of government plans for nuclear power

TS NOT SURPRISING that, after Fukushima, polls show that people in the world are turning away from nuclear power. Many may have thought the terrible disaster of Chernobyl was a one-off (even though there have been other serious accidents such as Three Mile Island and Windscale). Another different but terrible disaster at Fukushima has resulted in many finally realising that this way of producing electricity is just too uniquely dangerous. Having nuclear weapons in the world means there is always the awful chance that they might be used again. Continuing with nuclear power stations means we will always be waiting for the next awful one-off accident with its own individual set of disastrous circumstances. Every year CND attends the World

Conference against A & H Bombs in Japan; it is vital that we send our solidarity, support and news of the important campaigning against nuclear weapons carried out in the UK. As one of hundreds of international delegates, our Chair Dave Webb was present there on our behalf in August. Although the main focus was nuclear weapons disarmament, at this years conference, there was also an over whelming sense of opposition to nuclear power that hadnt been expressed there quite so strongly before. The conferences final declaration noted the link between nuclear weapons and nuclear power generation and called for an end to the reliance on nuclear energy and a shift to renewable energy

sources. This opposition is reflected on a wider scale in Japanese cities by enormous demonstrations of tens of thousands of protestors. It is good news that Japan and other countries like Germany are deciding to phase out nuclear power. It is time for our government to give up its addiction to both nuclear weapons and nuclear power. We cannot continue to encourage more nuclear power in the world. By doing so we encourage a world in which there are more countries with the technology and expertise they can use to make nuclear weapons, just as we did in the past. So, calling for a world without nuclear weapons is much easier and more realistic if we call for it without nuclear power too.

Trade union update

The Great Trident Job Threat

CND has launched a new Trident briefing: The Great Trident Job Threat. Aiming to put pressure on pro-Trident politicians and industry sectors, it calls on them to justify why they want to cut tens of thousands of jobs in order to pay for Trident replacement. CND is calling for the huge job creation and diversification which would result from not replacing Trident. Instead of saying jobs would be lost if Trident were replaced, this briefing proves that those who are pro-Trident, as well as believing that possessing such expensive weapons of mass destruction is

a good idea, are in fact campaigning for mass redundancies! We are sending the briefing to all our trade union affiliates as part of a strategy to re-ignite the debate in the trade union movement. We are also highlighting the fact that Trident is by no means a done deal. The Main Gate decision, the final decision to go ahead with replacing the system will not be taken until 2016. Trident will be a live political issue up to and beyond the next General Election so there is ample time to strengthen a broad anti-Trident alliance.

Tolpuddle Festival Trident and Jobs

The economic crisis has brought into sharp relief the fact that we are spending billions on nuclear weapons that we can never justifiably use. However, for a small number of people Trident provides their livelihoods. Our Tolpuddle event in July aimed to find common ground between those who want to scrap Trident and those whose jobs depend on nuclear weapons. CNDs Kate Hudson was joined by CWUs Senior Deputy General Secretary Tony Kearns and Plymouth activist and CND Council member Tony Staunton. Tansy Hoskins, CNDs Trade Union Officer was the meetings chair. Trident is so expensive that every job it provides costs millions of pounds, explained Kate Hudson. Trident is actively stripping money and resources away from the rest of the economy; its not in our security interest, its not in our economic interest, and its not in our trade interest. A trade unionist from the Derby Rolls Royce plant expressed concern that cutting Trident would mean big job losses. This, Tony Kearns said, was why the TUC had called for a million climate jobs to bring about a Just Transition to a low carbon green economy. He outlined the importance of diversifying jobs away from Trident.

Use this briefing to discuss the issue at your local branch meeting with a view to CND affiliation and creating a national discussion. Order your copy by calling the office on 020 7700 2393 or download it from the Information/Briefings section of the CND website: www.cnduk.org
used by nearly 1,000 people to ask Lib Dem Defence Minister Nick Harvey to ensure non-replacement of nuclear weapons is considered in a new Trident Alternatives review. Facebook (www.facebook.com/cnduk) is incredibly useful for campaigning, and our following has been increasing steadily. Currently, we have more than 7,200 followers. The number of likes on the page increases when we post photos and links to articles or events this shows us that people are engaged in our campaigns they think were doing a good job! Twitter (@CNDuk) has also been helpful in allowing us to supply bite-sized

Web building

We have been building our online profile for some time. We make full use of Facebook and Twitter and weve recently made improvements in the look and layout of our website. The website now has a fully functioning Activist Centre, www.cnduk.org/get-involved/activistcentre please take a look! This section allows campaigners and local CND groups to download logos and campaigning materials to print their own banners and leaflets directly from CND. Linked from the websites home page is our latest email action-tool. This has already been

updates to thousands of followers. We regularly tweet directly from events, provide links to Kate Hudsons blog and to relevant news articles. If youre not yet following CND on Facebook and Twitter, get signed up now for all the campaign updates you need! Also read more about how to improve your online profile in a special briefing on the Activist Centre of the website. CND groups can seek advice and help from Anne Schulthess, Campaigns Officer for Youth and Community. She is also available to give a presentation on using online media effectively: e-mail campaigns@cnduk.org or call 020 7700 2393

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Muriels Grapevine

ERE ARE just some of this summers highlights of the hard work undertaken by the committed volunteers who make up CND local and regional groups: Sheffield CND helped organise an important nuclear power debate at the Green Party Conference in September. Kate Hudson, CND General Secretary was one of the guest speakers and she reported back on an intelligent and animated discussion. This was partially due to another of the main speakers professorship being partly funded by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. The Nuclear Trains Action Group (part of London Region CND) celebrated Transport for Londons announcement that trains carrying radioactive nuclear waste past the Olympics site will be temporarily suspended during the games. The group is still campaigning for the Trains carrying radioactive nuclear waste past the Olympics site will now be trains to be halted in the period before the temporarily suspended during the games games start. A terrorist attack or accident posters informing about the dangers of Wimbledon CND ran a pre-screening then could lead to mass evacuation and the DU in a demonstration outside the base. of a powerful new film In my Lifetime. The potential abandonment of the Olympics. Very many happy returns to Rochdale film, an account of the nuclear age and the The group have now been told they need to get council permission for their regular and Littleborough Peace Group which movement against nuclear weapons, filled stall at Stratford station because so many has been campaigning now for 30 years. out the pews of the local church. The people are passing through to visit the new Over the years, Ive frequently reported on audience was also treated to a live link-up Olympics site shopping centre. the actions of this enthusiastic and with the films director in New York. Tower Hamlets CND members were dedicated group, so please keep it up A last reminder about the Chance of a encouraged by the enthusiastic responses RLPG members! lifetime film competition organised by of all of the children who Bristol CND. The competition invites came to their stall at the budding young film makers to submit Phone, broadband & mobile V&A Museum of short films on what nuclear disarmament Childhood fete. There means to them. The deadline for they made paper cranes submissions is the 30th October see the and heard all about the website at www.thechanceofalifetime.org es bile servic story of Sadako. o and and m a di erence e, broadb The star attraction of Get phon coms supplier with e from a tele RAF Fairfords Royal e same tim CND at th port International Air Tattoo ...and sup event (an enormous military air show) in midcredit you a 10 e will give July was the US A-10 d will go pporter, w su r spen As a CND 6% of you ork t bill AND (Warthog) tank-busting airexcellent w on your rs nue their em conti help th craft. However, this aircto CND to raft is designed to fire Call: 0845 458 9040 depleted uranium shells Visit: www.thephone.coop/CND and so members from Oxford CND distributed QUOTE: CND and AF0267 leaflets and displayed

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Whats on

Diary
15-16TH OCTOBER CND Conference and AGM at Bradford University see http://www.cnduk.org/ conference for more details, and Day of Action at Menwith Hill (see page 5). 29TH OCTOBER Campaign Against the Arms Trade National Gathering at Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London - 10am - 4.30pm. See their website for more details and to register: www.caat.org.uk 29TH OCTOBER Stop the Dump, Scrap Trident march and rally at Plymouth starting at 12 noon from the Plymouth Guildhall, Armada Way. Call Tony Staunton on 078584 89264 for more details. 19TH NOVEMBER Students attending the NUS Student Activism 2011 campaigns festival at UCL, London, look out for the 'Fund Education Not War' session organised by Student CND. 30TH NOVEMBER Coordinated Day of Action on public sector pensions, called by the TUC. Start mobilising now to get our Cut Trident not jobs, health, education message across.

New peace camp at RAF Waddington, Lincoln:

Ground the Drones

Please plan a visit to support this new peace camp at RAF Waddington where a squadron of pilots will be based to control Reaper Stealth bombers (drones). Call Helen John for more details 07971 675776

New Christmas card design!

Peace Camps
ALDERMASTON WOMENS PEACE CAMP Second weekend of every month. Tel: 07969 739 812 info@aldermaston.net www.aldermaston.net FASLANE PEACE CAMP Permanent. A814, Shandon, Helensburgh Dumbartonshire G84 8NT Tel: 01436 820901 or email: faslanepeacecamp@ hotmail.com MENWITH HILL WOMENS PEACE CAMP Contact Yorkshire CND for details. Call 01274 730795 or email info@yorkshirecnd.org.uk

This year our Christmas card design is a nod to CND's past. Based on a design produced in the 1980s it has been re-drawn and re-coloured for 2011. We hope you like it! Packs of six cards are 3.50. Order them from our website or send a cheque (including an extra 10% for postage and packaging) made out to CND to: Christmas Card Orders, CND, 162 Holloway Road, London N7 8DQ. We also have some lovely new zip-up hoodies, in black, grey or green, to keep you insulated from the worst of winter weather. Visit the online shop for the full range of CND goodies: www.cnduk.org/shop.

Campaign is printed on 100% recycled paper

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