Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The latest edition of the Merseyside CND newsletter is now available to download and includes:
Doors open 14:00, Screening begins at 14:30
Set against the backdrop of Remembrance the controversial and challenging documentary reveals how, faced with unprecedented opposition to its wars, the British government is using a series of new and targeted strategies to promote support for the military. Armed Forces Day, Uniform to Work Day, Camo Day, National Heroes Day – in the streets, on television, on the web, at sports events, in schools, advertising and fashion – the military presence in civilian life is on the march. The public and ever younger children are being groomed to collude in the increasing militarisation of UK society.
Transport to venue
From Liverpool:
433 bus to Earlston Road 3mins walk slight hill
432 bus to top of Mount Pleasant Road 4 mins walk level. Cross over to Kirk Way you will see Library ahead of you.
We hope as many of you could attend this event and pass the info on to others.
President Donald Trump is banging the drums of war as he ratchets up tensions with Iran. The recent attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman have increased the possibility of war, as the US claims – without providing evidence – that Iran is responsible for the attacks. Their origin is unknown and while that remains the case, the UK government should desist from apportioning blame to Iran.
We urge all our members and supporters to contact their MPs to help prevent a war. We went into the catastrophic war on Iraq, in 2003, on the basis of false information and this cannot be allowed to happen again.
The origin of the current crisis with Iran lies with Trump’s attempts to trash the Iran Nuclear Deal which had effectively removed any possibility that Iran might develop nuclear weapons.
Lobby your M.P. to say No War on Iran
President Trump announced US withdrawal last year. The withdrawal, fresh sanctions and a ramping up of the US military presence in the Middle East, has led to serious doubts about the future of the deal – and of peace in the region.
As tensions increase, it should now be clear to all that the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal was a prelude to a much bigger confrontation.
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has announced that he will halt some of the commitments agreed under the accord, in line with a dispute resolution mechanism included in the deal. He has appealed to the other signatories to make good on their commitments to the deal, to ease the economic difficulties inflicted by US sanctions. If this happens Iran will revert to full compliance
CND General Secretary, Kate Hudson, said:
“The responsibility for the unravelling of the Iran nuclear deal lies at Trump’s door. It began with the US withdrawal last year, at a time when the deal was working and preventing nuclear proliferation.
“With increased economic pressures on Iran, and the recent deployment of US aircraft in the Middle East, it seems tensions are being ratcheted up ready for Trump’s security adviser John Bolton to make the case for a new war. It is essential that the other signatories step up to the plate and meet their financial commitments to the deal. They must not allow Trump to bully them into the destruction of a crucial diplomatic achievement.
“Because of Trump’s actions the world is a more dangerous place. He’s withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal, he’s withdrawn from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and more recently the Arms Trade Treaty.
“The US President’s trashing of the international rules-based system is a great danger to world security. It’s crucial that the UK government works for a peaceful solution to the current crisis. War with Iran would be catastrophic.”
The Court found that the government had failed to properly assess whether there have been breaches of International Humanitarian Law.
This historic judgment means that the government must now stop issuing new arms exports licences and suspend existing licences to export arms to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen, and retake all decisions in accordance with the law.
These sales should never have been licensed in the first place. Even as schools, hospitals, weddings, and funerals have been bombed, the government has licensed the sale of billions of pounds of weapons for use in the conflict.
We have now shown that these arms sales were not just immoral, but also unlawful. But even now the government is likely to resist. Every step of the way it has done all it can to keep the weapons flowing
We need MPs to know about this ruling, to keep building the pressure to stop these sales once and for all.
Please email your MP today and help us make this count: caat.org.uk/unlawful
Follow CAAT on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.
Author Stuart Evers discusses his short story based on The Aldermaston Marches of the late 1950s and early 60s, which were anti-nuclear weapons demonstrations, involving thousands of activists walking from the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment in Aldermaston (in Berkshire) to London (just over 52 miles); a movement which has had a global impact, particular the 1960 protest against the use of the H-bomb and was integral in the early days of the CND. He is joined by Michael Randle, prominent peace activist and academic and a member of the committee that organised the first Aldermaston march, and Mai Chatham, life-long CND member who took part in the marches and is still active in CND today.
Listen to the podcast here