Labour railroads MDA extension through Parliament without debate!

Thousands of you answered our call and contacted your MP over the renewal of the Mutual Defence Agreement – the secretive treaty between the US and Britain that underpins the London-Washington ‘special relationship’ and makes it possible for Britain to have nuclear weapons.
 
The deadline for MPs to submit opposition to its renewal expired on Wednesday with no debate in Parliament. This railroading is all the more shocking because the government has proposed to remove the 10 year renewal clause from the MDA, making the treaty permanent.
 
The government announced these proposed changes just before Parliament’s six week summer recess. There has been limited opportunity to discuss this since Parliament’s return with September and early October taken up with party conferences. For a major change to such a significant treaty to go through on the nod constitutes a shameful attack on democracy and transparency.

What next?
 
While this legislation keeps Britain in lock-step with the US, enabling and subordinating Britain’s nuclear weapons to US command, we can still oppose this cooperation and lack of transparency. On Saturday, 2 November, CND is holding its fourth national demonstration at RAF Lakenheath, to oppose the return of US nuclear weapons to Britain. Please join us in saying No to US nuclear escalation in Europe which puts us on the frontline in any US/NATO war.

• Saturday, 2 November
• RAF Lakenheath main gate, Brandon road, Suffolk
• Assemble 12 noon, details here

We will be joined by Melissa Parke, Executive Direction of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), who will speak about the dangers of nuclear weapons in Europe and NATO nuclear sharing. We will also be joined by: Jenny Jones, Green Party peer, Catherine Rowett, former Green MEP; Bimal Khadka, MedAct; Kirsten Bayes, Campaign Against Arms Trade; and Peter Burt, Nukewatch. More speakers TBA!
 
Transport is being arranged by local CND groups in London, Norwich, Manchester, and Yorkshire. If you are planning to attend and need a lift or spot on a coach, please get in touch with the relevant contact ASAP, which you can find here.
 
Can’t make the demonstration? You can find a list of actions on our Lakenheath campaign page.

CND hosts major conference in London
 
Hundreds joined CND’s conference earlier this month to discuss the key threats we face and how to work together to create the world we want. Over 200 people joined plenaries and workshops that explored the growing interconnectedness between nuclear dangers, escalating war, economic crises, racism and climate chaos.

Click here for a gallery of photographs from the day. Videos of speeches from the opening and closing plenaries to follow!

The threat of nuclear war is escalating. Simultaneously, the climate crisis is inciting conflict over dwindling resources. Achieving real global security requires a commitment to peace, dialogue and disarmament.

We need to take our planet’s future into our own hands! Want to help make this happen? Join CND today.

Join the Palestine bloc and stand up to the far right this Saturday!
 
This summer saw an explosion of far-right violence across towns and cities in Britain, with attacks on mosques, immigration services, and hotels housing  asylum seekers. These attacks on some of Britain’s most vulnerable people was later met with larger counter-demonstrations within targeted communities involving local people, businesses, community groups, trade unions, and peace activists.
 
On Saturday, the far right plan another show of force in central London, organised by the provocateur Tommy Robinson. This is the same group who, at last year’s national march for Palestine on Armistice Day, came to London to protect war statutes, far away from the route of our march. What unfolded was an explosion of drunken violence as mobs ran amok across central London

The increasing far-right influence on British politics should be a concern for us all. Their rhetoric leads to a growing nationalism that goes hand-in-hand with militarism and violence.

CND is supporting this Saturday’s counter-demonstration organised by Stand Up To Racism and will be forming part of the Palestine bloc. Join us at the CND banner to stand up for peace and against the far right!

• Saturday, 26 October
• Meet 11:30am on the corner of Carlton Street / Regent Street St. James’s