There is strong public demand for debate about the future of Britain's nuclear weapons system, to which the government has recently appeared to acquiesce. But there are serious problems about the way in which it is trying to frame the debate.
The recent Greenpeace-commissioned MORI poll results show a popular preference for non-replacement, particularly when it is made clear how much taxpayers' money is actually spent on these weapons of mass destruction and what could be bought…
The Activist Trauma Network is organising a day of discussion and networking on 4 February for all those involved in promoting practical mutual support in activist, campaigning and community groups.
We are planning to discuss our own chosen work in these areas and expand on ideas for projects, make new contacts and give/receive constructive feedback. For too long we have ignored the psychological impact of violence inflicted on activists in the course of their actions. We need to be…
It is a sad indictment of our so-called liberal democracy, and the ultimate irony of Tony Blair's constitutional reform agenda, that it is the unelected House of Lords who must stand up time and again protect our civil liberties, and the very foundations of British society. On the first day of the Report Stage, that's precisely what they did (again) with a triple salvo of amendments to the government's identity cards bill.
After months of campaigning and lobbying on this issue,…
Well gather round me people there's a story I'm gonna tell, about a brave young prophet, you should remember well.
Our man of the month is the alternative man of the moment, say his supporters. He goes by the name of George. Some call him “gorgeous”. And we can surely see why, his skin - taut and flushed like an orange, begging to be peeled... his balding pate - lending him a gravitas (or is that veritas) that is undercut by his wry humour, and his moustache - seemingly grown in…
AWPC is a women-only anti-nuclear, anti-war group based around a monthly peace camp at the Atomic Weapons Establishment(AWE) Aldermaston, the UK's nuclear weapons factory. Women of all ages are involved, from 18 to 80, who oppose nuclear weapons in particular, and war and militarism in general. The camp(aign) is nonviolent, and likes to take direct action. Camp women are also involved in Nukewatch, which tracks nuclear weapons convoys deployed to Coulport in Scotland, and other military…
Well darlings, the object of our desire this month is not a person, it's a concept. Oooh. An advertising concept. Aaaaah. It is - wait for it - “Beyond Petroleum”.
We've all seen it on billboards, we've seen it in magazines. It's the ever so post postmodern advertising solution that BP is using to convince us all that, oh no, they don't do oil any more. Oil is ever so last century darling. What use would the company formerly known as “Anglo Iranian” have for fossil fuels? It's all…
One of the most disturbing features of the recent commemoration for the people who were killed in the London bombings on 7 July was that the event was specifically a religious service.
It's bad enough that public events of that sort are so frequently sectarian in this way, hence excluding so many people - including many of those affected, whom the event is allegedly for. But in this case, it was even more inappropriate: here was an example of mass murder, with the perpetrators…
In October, the US marked the return of the remains of the 2,000th soldier killed in Iraq (a further 16,000 are reported wounded). Later in the month, and during November, campaigners marked the deaths of the Lancet-estimated 100,000 Iraqis; and at the end of November the British forces bodycount reached 98.
Almost three years after the invasion of Iraq began, homes and infrastructure continue to be damaged and vital services such as basic healthcare remain woefully…
On 5 December, ten anti-Trident activists were each fined a total of £300 by a Scottish Sheriff who takes a dim view of people not doing exactly what the police tell them on every occasion. The activists were in bother for being the crew of a large model nuclear weapons submarine which blocked the street outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on 10 March.
The ten were accused under the Roads (Scotland) Act with placing an obstruction in the roadway without reasonable…
I first met my dear friend Stuart “Mitch” Mitchel in 1965 when he was teaching at St Albans College of Further Education. Now, 40 years later, Mitch has died in his sleep (I'd guess he was in his early 80s but he regarded age as an irrelevance) and Beryl and their four children and seven grandchildren have lost a strikingly original, handsome and intelligent companion.
Mitch taught at the College until he retired and never ceased to be a polite, determined, constant irritant to the…
There was no way I wanted to miss Robert Fisk's lecture in Stirling, so I was not critically put off by the irritating call notice which referred to him as the “revered foreign correspondent”.
“Sound”, “respected”, “influential” would have been fine but “revered” does rather take us into that stratosphere of adulation in which we kneel down and cast aside, like Pilgrim's bundle of sin, all our unworthy critical thoughts. The worry of course was not about Fisk himself, who I imagine…
NAME:
Smash EDO!
STARTED:The campaign against weapons makers EDO MBM, based in Home Farm Road, Brighton, began in spring 2004.
OBJECTIVES:Its objective is to nonviolently close down EDO's arms factory or, alternatively, convert its premises to civilian use. Despite having an arms company in the area Brighton Council receives funds as a “UN Peace Messenger city”.
SUCCESS SO FAR:There have been regular noise protests outside EDO since the campaign began, and several…
The issue of repressive legislation is becoming a regular feature in PN's editorial and comment section. However, we make no apology for banging on about it, when current and proposed measures have such a profound impact, not just on how protest is viewed and policed, but also on how the wider public - and we ourselves - perceive our identity, power and actions in opposition to the inherent violence of government and corporations.
Real concernsOctober saw the government…
The Mole spotted something strange on the NATO website recently. Under “What's New?” were several childishly ill-drawn, but quite recognisable, versions of the famous Nuclear Disarmament symbol.
No, there hasn't been a revolution in Brussels which no-one noticed (can you name any famous Belgian revolutionaries?). It's just NATO up to its normal Orwellian tricks - celebrating this year's UN International Day of Peace. It ran a design-a-greeting-card competition at its international…
This year's CND conference took place close to the heart of London's poshistani shopping district -- the West End. Within two minutes of arriving, we had discovered the first two rules of the venue we had managed to break (no bicycles,no gaffa tape, blimey, good job we ditched the dog!). You can't take some people anywhere.
However, the morning quickly moved into the usual round of resolutions and voting, with very little to report. The resolution opposing Trident replacement was…
Founded in 2004 in response to the Government's intended introduction of compulsory registration, fingerprinting and lifelong tracking of all UK residents by means of a centralised biometric database, NO2ID brings together individuals and organisations from all sections of the community and seeks to ensure that an informed case against state identity control is put forward in the media, in the corridors of power and at grassroots level.
NO2ID is supported by a growing number of…
“The sand of the desert is sodden red The gatling' s jammed and the colonel dead The river of death has brimmed its banks...This they all with a joyful mind Bear through life like a torch in flame And, falling, fling to the hosts behind `Play up! play up! and play the game!'"
Henry Newbolt (1862-1938) Vitai Lampada.
"Sport is an unfailing cause ofill-will [and] international sporting contests lead to orgies of hatred"
George Orwell (1945) The…
Tell Me Why? Yes my darlings, today we're looking at Bob. Not Bob the Builder, not Bob Mugabe, but that tousle-haired wee sprite of a man, Bob Geldof.
Remember when, as a young man, he told ol' Thatch a thing or two about grain surpluses? My, how he's changed. More recently he's been seen hanging out with some dodgy characters, David Frost, Tony Blair.
In with a bad crowd, his radical roots aren't showing a bit as he schmoozes his way from the White House to Downing Street. He'…
Obscured by the sheer number of stories of personal and community tragedy and the recriminations against the Bush administration and federal agencies, there is an important story of grassroots organising, human solidarity and direct action in response to the hurricanes which battered the US Gulf states in recent weeks.
While law enforcement agencies and the military concentrated on wielding their hardware against their own citizens, small groups of ordinary people were gathering and…
Education for peace is being talked about in Scotland again. There has been a debate in the parliament on the topic and there is now a cross-party group on a Culture of Peace.
Shortly a study done by Arthur Romano of Bradford University will map what is being done around the country . In respect of mediation and conflict resolution there has been a lot of activity for some years now, both in schools and communities. Among many examples there is an established project in Inver-clyde…
