CND Press Digest: Thursday 26th January 2023

War in Ukraine / NATO

• Martin Kettle writes in The Guardian that the decision by Germany, the US and others to send tanks to Ukraine now makes this a western war against Russia.
• Tobias Ellwood argues for more defence spending in The Telegraph with a comment titled “Britain needs new tanks to defeat Putin.”
• Telegraph defence editor Con Coughlin on how NATO’s support for Ukraine is shakier than it seems.
• Now that it has secured tanks, Kiev has now set its sights on securing fighter jetslike the F-16.

Doomsday Clock

• Story on CND website about the Doomsday Clock being pushed forward to 90 seconds to midnight.
• Kate’s comments on the clock feature in The Morning Star.
• Professor Anthony Glees dismisses the significance of the doomsday clock to The Star calling it “a kind of CND device which is intended to terrify us, in the West, and encourage us to believe we can no longer defend ourselves, so assisting those in the East, – Russia, China and North Korea, to get their wicked way with us.”

India-Pakistan

• A memoir by former US Secretary of State Mike Pomepo reveals that India and Pakistan came close to a “nuclear conflagration” in February 2019. It came after Indian airstrikes against militants in Pakistani territory following attacks against Indian troops in Kashmir.

Iran Nuclear Deal

• The Week on whether the UK should help get the Iran nuclear deal back on track. 

UK Nuclear Energy

• The Environment Agency has launched a two-week consultation on proposed permit changes to Hinkley Point C. The changes would remove a stipulation that requires the developers to install an acoustic deterrent – which prevents fish from being sucked into the plants turbines. It’s feared millions of fish could be killed. 

Nuclear Energy

• Sweden is looking at the possibility of building 2.8 gigawatts (GW) of new nuclear capacity at the existing Ringhals site on the western Swedish coast and connecting it to the grid from 2032.
• Letter in the Irish Times opposing recent arguments for nuclear power in Ireland. 

Nuclear Korea

• From Carnegie: The Dueling Nuclear Nightmares Behind the South Korean President’s Alarming Comments.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament