No to Trident
Replacement
Introduction
A decision on
the possible replacement of the Trident submarine nuclear weapons system has
been made. But this replacement will take many years. There is still time for
us to step up our campaigning to make it clear that we don't want any kind of
replacement for Trident - no strategic nukes, no tactical nukes - in fact, NO
nukes at all! Make this clear to your MPs now!
Trident is Britain's
nuclear weapon system. It consists of four nuclear-armed submarines, one of
which is on operational patrol at all times. Each Trident submarine carries
48 nuclear warheads, each of which can be sent to a different target. Each
warhead has an explosive power of up to 100 kilotons, the equivalent of
100,000 tons of conventional high explosive and 8 times the power of the
atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima
in 1945, killing an estimated 140,000 people.
CCND believes
that Trident is illegal, immoral and a waste of resources. It does nothing to
increase world security and undermines international efforts to stop the
spread of weapons of mass destruction.
Trident and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
CCND believes
that to fulfil its international legal obligations, the Government should
comply with its unequivocal commitment under the Nuclear Non
Proliferation Treaty by immediately decommissioning Trident and ruling
out plans for future nuclear weapon systems.
There’s a
CCND leaflet available to download here (PDF
file).
Theology Day School
In February
2006, CCND organised a Day School; ‘Trident Replacement, What does Theology
Say?’ We have produced a booklet with the guest speakers’ presentations and a
brief summary of the workshops. It’s available to download here (PDF file 206KB) or from the office (suggested
donation of about £2).
Interfaith Group working against Trident replacement
The Christian
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament calls on people of all Faiths to set up an
interfaith group to work in all faiths against the renewal of the UK Trident
Nuclear Weapon System. Read more here.
Faslane 365
October First
2006 saw the beginning of an audacious civil resistance initiative to apply
critical public pressure for the disarmament of Britain's nuclear weapons.
Building on
the success of previous mass blockades of the Trident nuclear base at
Faslane, there will be a year-long continuous peaceful blockade at Faslane in
Scotland.
To make this happen, groups and organisations from Scotland,
England and Wales,
and beyond are being invited to come and shut down the base for at least one
48-hour period each during the year.
To find out
more, go to http://www.faslane365.org/
Christian
activity surrounding this campaign will be publicised here. Check back
regularly for more details – or join CCND and
read about it in our newsletters!
We are planning at Peace Pentecost
celebration & liturgy at Faslane, 27 & 28 May, to coincide with the
arrival of the Footprints for Peace Interfaith Walk (www.footprintsforpeace.net).
See events page.
What you can do
Write a letter to Tony Blair.
Sample letter here
Write a letter to the new
Secretary of State for Defence. Sample
letter here
CND page on Trident http://www.cnduk.org/pages/campaign/ntdtrep.html
Join a local campaign against
Trident. Contact CND for details.
Organise a public meeting on
Trident. Contact the organisations below for information, suggestions on
speakers.
Invite Bruce Kent to speak at
your meeting. Contact CND on 020 7700 2393.
Come to Faslane at Pentecost.
See events page for details.
For more information
See the following websites for information:
Acronym: http://www.acronym.org.uk/dd/dd76/76news04.htm
BASIC: http://www.basicint.org/nuclear/beyondtrident/
CND: http://www.cnduk.org/pages/campaign/ntdtrep.html
Greenpeace: http://www.greenpeace.org.uk
Medact: http://www.medact.org/article_wmd.php?articleID=387
Methodist Church: http://www.methodist.org.uk
Quaker Peace
& Social Witness Peace and Disarmament newsletter: http://www.quaker.org.uk/
or email
Trident Ploughshares: http://www.tridentploughshares.org/index.php3
Yorkshire CND:
http://www.cndyorks.gn.apc.org/news/articles/no_trident_replacement.htm
Briefings
Don't
replace Trident!
New campaign pack now available
Do you want
to know more about the UK's
nuclear weapons and help to make sure that they are not replaced? This
pack, available free or for a donation, includes a briefing about nuclear
weapons in the UK, an action ideas sheet, a list of key arguments, as well as
postcards and petitions to use in the community. Thanks to research by
the Oxford Research Group, the pack includes a letter writer's list of
'decision makers' - key officials and parliamentarians with a bearing on the
government's decision. There are also instructions for making paper
cranes, which we are suggesting people enclose with letters to decision
makers. Folding paper cranes is also an ideal activity for children
over 9 and young people's groups. For your pack, write to:
Peace & Disarmament Programme
Quaker Peace & Social Witness
Friends House, 173 Euston Road
London NW1 2BJ
Email disarm@quaker.org.uk or call
020 7663 1067.
The pack will be available online shortly. W: http://www.quaker.org.uk/qpsw
and http://www.peaceexchange.org.uk
Peacerights Report on the legality of the Trident nuclear missile system: http://www.peacerights.org/reports/195
CTBI Briefing on the future of
Trident “Trident: UK
nuclear weapons at a crossroads” download here
Discuss Trident
Come Clean has launched a forum on its website to help share information,
generate discussion and create informed debate about WMD. The forum can be
accessed online at: http://forum.comeclean.org.uk/.
Of current relevance is the section on 'Beyond Trident', a collaborative
project (organised by Come Clean, the Acronym Institute for Disarmament
Diplomacy, Oxford Research Group and BASIC) to raise awareness and
foster public and parliamentary debate on whether or not Britain should
retain nuclear weapons and replace the Trident nuclear weapons system. You
can discuss the Future of Britain’s Nuclear Weapons and find out why a debate on nuclear policy is vital online at: http://forum.comeclean.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=2
.
Further
information about Beyond Trident is available from the Come Clean Website at:
http://comeclean.org.uk/bt_information.php.
|
