US Nuclear weapons return to Britain: CND's plans for the next few months

Hello CND groups,

Over the summer there have been huge developments as regards to nuclear weapons in Britain. In June, the government announced it was buying 12 nuclear capable F35A fighter jets, later confirming a nuclear role for the RAF for the first time in decades. These jets will be allocated to NATO missions, so while they will be flown by British jets, decisions on whether to drop nuclear bombs from them will be made by the US, namely Trump.

Parallel to this announcement, US nuclear weapons have now arrived at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk. It is likely that these bombs will be deployed onto the fighter jets due to be based at RAF Marham near Peterborough. Both of these developments need to be challenged.

CND has been spending time over the past few weeks working out how best to respond to these specific issues and we can now confirm the following calendar of events and actions over the next few months: 

• Wednesday 3rd September Zoom meeting for CND groups and CND campaigns team to talk through upcoming actions, discuss ideas, and answer questions. Register here.
• Wednesday 17th September CND will join the national demonstration against Trump’s state visit in London with our specific ‘Kick Trump’s Nukes Out’ message. Please join us.
• Saturday 20th September The protests against Trump continues with a ‘Kick Trump’s Nukes Out’ rally at RAF Lakenheath. We want to build on the previous demos at the base and make this one as big as possible. We ask that your group consider organising transport to come along and order flyers from us to promote,
• November We are organising a conference in Peterborough to build opposition, within our movement and with our allies, to Britain buying the nuclear capable fighter jets. More information to follow.
• Spring A demonstration will be organised at RAF Marham against the fighter jets. We need to be building for this now! Work has already started to build a coalition of organisations opposed to Britain expanding its nuclear capabilities and we will be launching this with a hand-in at Downing Street in the near future.
• Ongoing Lakenheath Alliance for Peace is organising a speaking tour to highlight how we can work together to end the threat of nuclear weapons, highlighting recent developments. West Midlands CND and Merseyside CND have already organised dates – please let me know if you would like to find out how your group can take part.

We also have an ongoing action where you can write to your MP that can be circulated online, and you can still order paper petitions to collect signatures of support for the campaign.

I appreciate there’s a lot going on so please come along to our meeting on September 3rd, where we can hear all your thoughts and answer any questions. And feel free to let me know if you have any queries or suggestions by email!