Newsletter Summer 2014
Posted: 8th August 2014
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday 6th August, 8.45 pm, River Avon from Fisherton Street Bridge
HIROSHIMA DAY Candle Float
Our popular annual event to remember the victims of nuclear weapons following the Japanese custom of using floating lanterns.Saturday 9th August – Join the Human Peace Scarf, Aldermaston to Burghfield, from 10 am This is the day when the 7 mile Pink Peace scarf will be rolled out between AWE Aldermaston and AWE Burghfield to draw attention to the work going on at these two sites and the billions being spent on Britain’s nuclear weapons. A minibus will be going from Salisbury. It will depart from the coach park off Castle Street at 8.30 am. Please contact Caroline on 01722 321865 to book your place. The charge will be £10. Useful items to bring – spare wool, bodkins, scissors. Caroline is collecting knitted pieces in advance so we can take them already joined together.
Saturday 18th October – Maltings Stall Fundraising stall to support and publicise our fillm showing – see below. Bric-a-brac, books required in advance plus help on the day.
Monday 27th October – Countdown to Zero (film), 7.30 pm, Studio Theatre, Ashley Road, SP2 7PN Countdown to Zero is a documentary film that traces the history of the atomic bomb, focusing on the accidents and false alerts. Made by the production team behind ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, it explores the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and features insights from a host of international experts and world leaders who advocate the elimination of nuclear weapons. It is a chilling wake up call. PLEASE PUT THIS DATE IN YOUR DIARY AND INVITE ALL YOUR FRIENDS Tickets available at the door – suggested donation £5
Wednesday 12th November – Follow up meeting to ‘Countdown to Zero’, 7.30 pm, Sarum Room (upstairs), St Thomas’s House
November/December – Peace Lessons
To find out more and help organise our Autumn Activities, please come to our CND planning meeting on Thursday 4th September, 5 pm, 32 Kings Road.
REPORTS
Salisbury CND AGM It seems a long time ago now that we had our AGM. Andrew Dey from Action AWE spoke about Action AWE (Atomic Weapons Eradication) and recent developments at Aldermaston and Burghfield. Although Parliament has not yet made a decision on the replacement of Trident, work is proceeding at the AWE sites costing approximately £2 billion now on top of the ongoing maintenance costs. The direct action group is employing some imaginative techniques for protesting and raising awareness including reporting crimes against humanity and war crimes being planned and prepared for at AWE Aldermaston and AWE Burghfield at Reading police station. Tom Corbyn, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Salisbury and City Councillor, and Michael Pope, Salisbury City Councillor for the Green Party, both gave a brief summary of their party’s position on Trident replacement. The other main parties were invited but didn’t send a representative. We got a good photo in the Journal with our Press Report. The AGM confirmed our existing officers and subscription rates. Thank you to all our members for their continuing support.
Pink Knitting in Salisbury Members of Salisbury CND and Salisbury Quaker Meeting have been knitting contributions for the Pink Peace Scarf to take up to Aldermaston on 9th August. We got another great photo and article in the Salisbury Journal about this on 10th July.
Maltings Stall, 26th July Thank you to everyone who helped with our recent fundraising stall, especially Chris and Julie. We made nearly £390 – a massive success! This gives us a healthy bank balance for the expenses of putting on the film in October – see above.
What are arms companies doing in schools? Several Salisbury CND members attended a meeting organised by Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) in June for those concerned by the Arms industry sponsorship of South Wiltshire University Technical College (South Wilts UTC). The UTC is due to open in September 2015 on Wilton Road in what was until very recently the police station. It will offer places for up to 600 students aged 14 to 18, with a curriculum focused on science and engineering. It represents a new, alarming development in the militarisation of our schools with heavy input from the Army (Wessex Brigade) plus the involvement of some of the UK’s biggest weapons manufacturers such as Chemring. A campaign of raising of public awareness, including letter writing to the local papers, is planned as well as research to ensure we are better informed. See www.caat.org.uk/utcs for more information and to sign up to the campaign.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Safety Concerns at AWE Aldermaston In early 2014 AWE Aldermaston reported 2 incidents of fire alarms not working properly in buildings containing radioactive materials. The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is considering taking action against AWE Aldermaston for breaching the safety regulations and conducting its own investigation into shortfalls in the management of the alarm system. Last year ONR issued a safety enforcement notice against AWE following the discovery of structural faults in one of the main nuclear processing buildings. In 2010 a blaze in an explosives facility on the site injured a member of staff and resulted in a £200,000 fine under a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive.
Cameron Closes Nuclear Deal behind Parliament’s back The Government has just agreed a 10 year extension to the Mutual Defence Agreement, a nuclear co-operation treaty with the US that was first signed in 1958. Extension of this agreement is essential to the replacement of Trident and locks Britain into US foreign policy. The nuclear technology sharing it contains exposes the lie that Trident is an independent weapon. Yet the UK Government did not discuss it with Parliament and will not even disclose the contents of the agreement. CND only heard about this through President Obama’s announcement to the US Congress.
CONTACT DETAILS for SALISBURY C.N.D. Caroline Lanyon, tel 01722 321865, c.lanyon@ btinternet.com - Group contact, Newsletter Distributor 32 Kings Road, Salisbury, Wilts. SP1 3AD Peter Gloyns, tel 01794 390482, [email protected] - Membership Secretary St Vincent, North Lane, Nomansland, Salisbury, Wilts. SP5 2BU Moura MacDonagh, tel 01722 710718, [email protected] - Secondary contact, Newsletter Content Longways, Southampton Road, Whaddon, Salisbury, Wilts. SP5 3EB Alex Raws, tel 01722 336736, alexraws@ btinternet.com – Treasurer 12 St Andrew’s Road, Lower Bemerton, Salisbury, Wilts. SP2 9NU Peter Wicks, peter.wicks715@ btinternet.com, tel 01980 633002 – Events/peace information by email 6 Newmans Way, Bulford, Salisbury, Wilts. SP4 9HT
SALISBURY CND MEMBERSHIP
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Pictures below from the Candle Float and the July Stall. Click on picture to enlarge.
