News from National CND

Thank you to the hundreds that attended Saturday’s successful demonstration at RAF Fairford against the illegal war on Iran and calling for Keir Starmer to end Trump’s use of British bases. Over 250 marched from Fairford town centre to form a human chain along the perimeter fence of the base – in full sight of the critical runway that enables these heavy, long-range bombers to take off. Despite the fragile ceasefire, evidence shows that the US is preparing RAF Fairford for further war crimes: more bombs have been flown into the base and military exercises are taking place to ensure a state of readiness to resume attacks on Iran. 

In fact, as our march neared the runway, two B-1s flew overhead. The noise was excruciating, giving us all a sense of the deadly power of these aircraft and the terror they must cause to the people of Iran as they bomb their homes, schools and hospitals. Many people on the march spoke of how powerful an experience it was to be protesting at the base.

The demonstration received great media attention including national coverage from the BBC and local BBC news and Wiltshire Times. You can also watch news reports from Times Now World and TRT World.

Help us reach more people about why we must keep protesting. Share our video of CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt speaking about the base’s role in attacking Iran and why Starmer must stop stop Trump’s use of British bases, on Instagramand Facebook.

TOMORROW: Join CND’s online side event from the NPT conference in New York!

The nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference starts in New York today, bringing together politicians, scientists, and civil society from across the world. This year’s talks come as nuclear threats are at their highest since the Cold War and disarmament efforts are being pushed back. This is being fuelled by nuclear-armed states actively carrying out the modernisation and expansion of their nuclear arsenals, despite their commitments under the NPT to pursue disarmament in good faith!

CND is being represented in New York by Parliamentary CND Chair Jeremy Corbyn MP and Parliamentary CND Vice-Chair Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP, who will be calling on nuclear-armed states to drop the hypocrisy and take urgent action to disarm – they can start by abiding by their NPT commitments!

Tomorrow, CND is hosting an online side event, ‘Nuclear Disarmament, Not Nuclear Hypocrisy,’ bringing together leading voices from parliament, civil society, and science to expose the contradictions at the heart of the system and to demand a way forward.  

• Tomorrow, 28 April 
• 5:00pm to 6:00pm (UK) / 12 noon to 1:00pm (New York)
• Online, register here

With guest speakers including Melissa Parke, ICAN Executive Director; Zia Mian, Co-director Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University and co-chair of the UN Scientific Advisory Group; and Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP, Vice-Chair of Parliamentary CND and Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation and Peace Activist. Chaired by Sophie Bolt, CND General Secretary.

No Nuclear War! Restart START! – join the protest at the Russian Embassy in London

As part of our actions around the NPT we’re also organising protests to press for action from the two biggest nuclear weapons states – Russia and the US.

In February, the last remaining arms control treaty between the US and Russia expired. These two countries possess 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons. This Treaty kept limits on the number of nuclear weapons that either country could deploy. We need to get talks back up and running to restart New START Treaty. That means pressuring the US and Russia to get back to the negotiating table.

This is why CND is holding a protest at the Russian Embassy in London on Thursday, 30 April. It is the first of two actions aimed at highlighting the nuclear threats of Russia and the US, and why they must take leadership on nuclear disarmament. We’ll be handing in a letter calling on Russia to take action to extend the treaty and end its illegal invasion and military action against Ukraine.

Russian Embassy protest - details here

• Thursday, 30 April 
• 12 noon to 2:00pm
• Russian Embassy, 6/7 Kensington Palace Gardens, London W8 4QP

The second protest will take place at the US Embassy on 21 May.

US Embassy protest - details here

• Thursday, 21 May 
• 12 noon to 2:00pm
• US Embassy, Nine Elms Lane, London SW11 7US