National CND: Hiroshima Nagasaki: Never again | Justice for test veterans - sign the petition!

This week we remember the atomic bombings of Japan and the hundreds of thousands of people whose lives were so horrifically taken in August 1945 and in the months and years that followed because of the injuries they suffered or from exposure of living amongst radiation.

At least 340,000 were killed because of the decision taken by the US government to drop these weapons of mass destruction over civilian population centres at the tail end of the bloodiest conflict in modern history.

Today, 12,000 nuclear weapons threaten our survival and the chance their use is at its highest since during the Cold War. Increasingly, we hear about ‘limited’ nuclear war with so-called ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons on the battlefield. Yet many of these bombs have a destructive power ten times greater than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

The British government is playing a role in these nuclear dangers, now overtaking Russia as the third highest spender on these weapons of mass destruction. It is expanding its nuclear arsenal by 40% to 260 warheads and is buying nuclear-capable fighter jets in addition to building a new fleet of nuclear-armed submarines.

CND groups will be marking the anniversaries this week with moving commemoration ceremonies and events across the country. You can use our interactive map to find one near you. This is a time for reflection, remembrance and reaffirmation of why we’ve committed to work towards a world free from the threat of nuclear weapons and why we say: Hiroshima. Nagasaki. Never again.

Join Jeremy Corbyn and Caroline Lucas and help us raise vital funds

Caroline Lucas, CND Vice-President and former leader of the Green Party, is joining CND Vice-President, Jeremy Corbyn MP, to help us spread this vital message by modelling our ‘No More Hiroshimas’ t-shirt from CND’s Teemill store.

She says: “The world’s nuclear-armed states have amassed the equivalent firepower to 145,000 Hiroshima bombs – enough to destroy the world many times over. What possible moral authority can the UK have to try to prevent countries like Iran from pursuing their nuclear ambitions while we simultaneously upgrade our own?”

Please buy a t-shirt today and help us raise critical funds towards our campaigning. 

PM Andy Burnham: deliver justice for nuke test veterans

Before becoming Prime Minister, Andy Burnham rightfully called the scandal of Britain’s nuclear test veterans a “criminal cover-up on an industrial scale” and demanded justice for them and their families. Now that he is leading the country, he has an opportunity to keep his promise and deliver restitution after decades of campaigning by these veterans.

Between 1952 and 1991, thousands of service personnel took part in Britain’s nuclear weapons testing programme – without protection, being exposed to many nuclear explosions – but never told of the dangers. In the years that have followed, they have suffered from cancers, blood disorders, and their partners from countless miscarriages and birth defects at much higher rates than the rest of the public. Many of their children and descendants have developed rare or new medical conditions that they rightly believe to be caused by their fathers’ exposure to radiation.

Last month, the MoD published a series of reports on the medical records sought by test veterans which included blood and urine tests taken before and after their exposure to radiation. The reports admitted for the first time that these records were either negligently not taken, lost, destroyed or classified. The report refutes any connection between their conditions and their exposure to radioactive fallout, nor offers any apology or compensation.

CND is supporting the nuclear test veterans’ campaign for justice. This includes the establishment for a one-year Truth, Justice and Legacy Special Tribunal, fair compensation for veterans and their families, and a meaningful official apology to all affected veterans and their families.

You can help by signing and sharing the petition addressed to Burham and sharing with your networks.

Stop bombing Iran! Cut war not welfare – online public meeting, Wednesday 5 August

With the US still threatening to launch further attacks on Iran, risks of this illegal war widening, and the economic impact now hitting people across the world, tomorrow’s online public meeting, organised by CND, Stop the War Coalition and Iranians Against War, couldn’t be more urgent. Hundreds have registered for this event – so make sure you book your place today.   

• Wednesday, 5 August 
• 6:30pm
• Online, register here

With speakers: Maryam Eslamdoust, TSSA General Secretary, Sophie Bolt,CND; Shabbir Lakha, Stop the War Coalition; and Atefeh Zandi, Iranians Against War.

RAF Fairford on Saturday, 15 August: Seats on coaches from London, Weston-super-Mare, and Bristol to our upcoming protest at RAF Fairford are still available. Book yours today and join us in calling on Andy Burnham to send the US bombers home and shut down these US war crime bases.