Nuclear weapons

On 4 December the government published a White Paper outlining its preferred option for the continuation of Britain's nuclear weapons programme, committing the country to a new fleet of nuclear submarines and to a service life extension for the US-owned Trident D5 missiles. Buried on page 30 was the news that the future of Britain's nuclear warheads would be determined in the next parliament. For now, a reduction in existing warhead numbers, from the equivalent of approximately 1,600…

November saw 16 different groups covering 20 days at Faslane, clocking up a mighty 148 arrests. The total number of arrests since 1 October 2006 stands at 330, but still only one prosecution so far.

Cumbria and North Lancashire started the month on a Halloween theme, handing over to the Iona community and the Clergy Action Group. By all accounts the police found it a surreal experience to be arresting so many church ministers. CND and Stop The War were next in line, with small but…

On 4 December the government published a White Paper outlining its preferred option for the continuation of Britain's nuclear weapons programme, committing the country to a new fleet of nuclear submarines and to a service life extension for the US-owned Trident D5 missiles. Buried on page 30 was the news that the future of Britain's nuclear warheads would be determined in the next parliament. For now, a reduction in existing warhead numbers, from the equivalent of approximately 1,600…

Campaigners in more than 50 cities across Europe have taken part in a month-long action protesting against the nuclear capacity of NATO member states. Concerned citizens have been filing official complaints with relevant authorities on the grounds that NATO's nuclear capacity is contrary to international humanitarian law, as the weapons' indiscriminate nature is certain to cause unnecessary suffering.

The series of complaints, organised by Greenpeace and the Belgium peace…

It might have been described in North Korea as a “happy” test, but North Korea's nuclear explosion on 9 October was deeply sad.

Sad for the people of North Korea who are oppressed while their preening “dear leader” Kim Jong Il beggars the economy and pours scarce resources into building plutonium weapons. Sad for the nuclear non-proliferation regime, widening its credibility gap and yet again showing how the “promise” of nuclear power can be diverted into nuclear weapons by…

Frances Laing talks to Joan Meredith, founder member of Trident Ploughshares, following her arrest at Faslane 365 in October.

Frances: Why did you join the opening Faslane 365 blockade?

Joan: I remembered Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was 1945. I was 15 years old - the announcement on the radio that the bomb had been dropped and then the awful thing was seeing it on the Pathe Gazette news - utter devastation and the tales of horror - how people had finished up…

On Saturday 7 October, a full sized replica Trident missile found its way onto the streets of Taunton. The event was part of an ongoing action staged by Somerset Campaign Against Trident Renewal (SCATR) and drew attention to the Faslane 365 Campaign. A number of activists from across the South West joined the protest in Scotland during the following week, overlapping with the Seize the Day group, many of whom also come from this area.

The banner was made by Taunton Peace Group, and…

On 1 October, 200 people descended on USAF Lakenheath in Suffolk. The airbase is believed to be home to around 110 US nuclear weapons of vital strategic importance to the US military. The following day eight activists broke into the base and locked on to the gates of the ammunition depot.

The demonstration on 1 October was called by CND and the Lakenheath Action group, and saw CND's Kate Hudson and Bruce Kent address the crowd along with Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn (who, apparently, had…

In August 2002, the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston outlined a raft of new facilities it wanted to build over the coming years. Amongst more benign projects like greening the site and providing better facilities for its employees, the nuclear bomb factory's plans included a massive laser, and hydrodynamics and explosives facilities.

Fast-forward four years and, after a bitter struggle by anti-nuclear campaigners, work on the first of the most contentious facilities - the…

The campaign to stop the next generation of nuclear weapons has received a lot of support - in particular from faith communities. From the Vatican to the local Friends Meeting House, calls to prevent Trident replacement can be heard, and many are choosing to turn their faith into action.

Every month outside the gates of AWE Aldermaston, worshippers hold a multi-faith vigil to remember those affected by acts of aggression and to renew their commitment to non-violently campaigning…

Hard on the heels of the great victory at the TUC -- an overwhelming vote in support of an RMT resolution against replacing Trident -- the issue has, however, been kept off the agenda at the Labour Party Conference.

This is another sad reflection of how out of touch the current government is with public opinion; 59% oppose Trident replacement, yet the party of government won't allow a debate on the issue. On the eve of the conference, tens of thousands of people marched through…

Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy: Regularly updated information and briefings available at http://www.acronym.org.uk/uk/index.htm. Call 020 7503 8857 for printed briefing. Aldermaston Women's Peace Camp(aign): Latest updates on developments at Aldermaston available at http://www.aldermaston.net/tng. Latest update September 2006, plus further news and info online. Call 07969 739 812 for…

On 23 September an estimated 1,000 people converged on France's nuclear weapons facility at Les Landes in the south-west of the country to carry out a European “citizens' inspection”. The event was organised by a coalition of NGOs, including ATTAC, Re'seau Sortir du Nucle'aire, Mouvement de la Paix, Greenpeace and the Quakers.

French antinuclear campaigners believe that France - with its submarine-based M51 programme - is on a similar weapons development trajectory to Britain, with…

Perhaps for most women who had a close involvement with Greenham, a new book on the subject will be approached with a certain trepidation. Over the years there have been a few - some written by academics, others by women who lived at the camp - and for reasons including remoteness and subjectivity, none has been fantastically well-received. One reason for this is that not one of us has the “whole story”. We each have our own - and we know it.

In this book however, Ann Pettit has…

Twenty-five years after the Greenham march, David Fairhall has contributed an enjoyable and informative history of Greenham Common.

It doesn't plod chronologically through the decades, but mixes the more interesting vignettes of the women's peace camp into the wider political and military context. As a history of a place it also includes quite detailed accounts of the complex legal manoeuvres which led to the partial restoration of the common. The women's peace camp is treated…