"CND has called for a massive demonstration on the 27th of February to show the extent of public opposition to Trident. The demonstration is being supported by the Stop the War Coalition,
Muslim Association of Britain and the People’s Assembly,
with more organisations pledging support all the time."
Source: CND
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"On the 27th February thousands will descend on London to protest against government plans to spend over £100 billion on replacing Trident, the UK's nuclear weapons system."
Source: CND
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| Details of the demonstration taken from the event page. |
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Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament marches back into public arena after years of decline
By Andy McSmith for The Independent Friday 29 January
2016
More than three decades have passed since
the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament had a following large enough to bring
traffic in central London to a halt, and fill the streets with banner-waving ( Banners have been prolific in public protests due to their ease of production, practical storing and unfolding as well as the ability to be large and seen at a distance ) protesters united in their belief that the UK should renounce
nuclear weapons.
The movement hit its peak on Saturday 22
October 1983, when supporters in their thousands poured into Hyde Park, urged
on by 2.3 million advertisements fly-posted (Fly-Posters have been a method of distribution of agenda driven material due to its temporariness, ease of use, cheapness and technical ease which allows the common man to do so) by CND activists ahead of the event urging them to “be there”.
Jeremy Corbyn risks splitting his party
further with new role at CND.
The crowd heard from a succession of
eminent speakers, including the fiery new leader of the Labour Party, Neil
Kinnock. Scotland Yard estimated that the crowd numbered 200,000. The
organisers claimed 300,000.
For all their enthusiasm, the marchers had
no impact at all on government policy. The land-based missiles to which they
objected were taken away years later, not because of objectors, but under an
international agreement. The Trident missiles are still carried in submarines,
though there’s now a debate as to whether they should be renewed.
CND may have slipped off the news
bulletins, but it never went out of existence. Bruce Kent, the former Roman
Catholic priest who was a public face of the 1980s protest, still calls into
CND’s north London headquarters a couple of times a week. The coming month will
see several events designed to get CND back in the public eye, culminating in a
rally in Trafalgar Square on 27 February where the main speaker will be Jeremy
Corbyn. Organisers are expecting
50,000 or more.
Kate Hudson, long-serving CND general secretary,
was a face in the crowd at the 1980s Hyde Park rally. “It was very exciting,”
she said. “Those big demonstrations were my first experience of collective
resolve. I have a very clear memory of one of those large demonstrations in
Hyde Park. I remember seeing in the distance the little white shirt that was
Monsignor Bruce Kent. I met him years later: it’s amazing to meet one of your
heroes face to face.
“Then there was the fear factor. We felt
that with cruise missiles coming, the Soviets and the US were gearing up to
fight their nuclear war in Europe. Now people are thinking more about what is
our security threat today. They think it’s terrorism, climate change, pandemic
and cyber-crime, and are asking why are we spending potentially £183bn on something
that doesn’t appear to have any military utility.”
Also working in CND’s favour is the shift
in the political landscape, summed up in two words – Jeremy Corbyn. He stuck
with CND during the wilderness years. One of his roles was as chairman of Labour
CND. In 2014 he was confirmed in that position at an annual meeting that drew
fewer than 50 supporters.
The next annual meeting takes place today.
This time they have had to book a hall for 150 to 200 delegates. They will hear
from Diane Abbott, the shadow International Secretary, and the first serving
member of a shadow cabinet to address Labour CND for more than 30 years. Mr
Corbyn will stand down as chairman to be replaced by Walter Wolfgang, a
92-year-old who escaped from Nazi Germany and was one of the founders of CND,
nearly 60 years ago.
In 1957 the UK exploded a nuclear bomb.
This inspired the launch of CND, with the philosopher Bertrand Russell as its
president and the Labour MP Michael Foot as a prominent member.
But people became accustomed to living with
the bomb. CND almost vanished until Margaret Thatcher decided to purchase
updated Trident missiles from the US, and to allow the Americans to place
cruise missiles at Greenham Common.
Between 1980 and 1984, CND membership
swelled from around 4,500 to more than 100,000. Under Michael Foot’s
leadership, unilateral nuclear disarmament became official Labour Party policy.
But when disarmament talks between the superpowers began in the mid-1980s, CND
again went into decline. Unilateralism was a vote loser. Neil Kinnock let his
CND membership lapse as he fought a long, successful battle to reverse party
policy.
Ian Chamberlain, CND’s spokesman, said:
“The 1980s veterans have always been the core membership, but we now have a
very large number of young people who were brought into politics by Jeremy
Corbyn. During the Labour leadership election we were getting hundreds of new
members each month. Success is closer than ever”.
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