Published by: TH CND, c/o Kingsley Hall, Powis Road, Bromley By Bow, London E3 3HJ • ©2016 • email: towerhamletscnd@yahoo.co.uk web: towerhamletscnd.wordpress.com

Tower Hamlets for Nuclear Disarmament

Tower Hamlets

CND

The Resister February2016

Assemble 12 noonSaturday 27 February 2016March to Trafalgar Square StopTrident rally with contributions from arange of political and celebrityspeakers. Location Central London Meeting point to be announced soon.

NationalDEMODecision Time

The national campaign is gearing up for the StopTrident demonstration on 27 February in London. Weunderstand that the negotiations on the route have

been difficult, so check the CND website, and for messagesfrom us, for the finalised details and our local plans to meetup. TH CND has plans to take part in local leafleting on 6

February to publicise the demonstration, to continue to lobbyour MPs at this crucial time and for a public panel debate onTrident in association with Queen Mary University of Londonon the 15th or 16th March. nTake action NOW • Sign ‘Time to Scrap Trident’ petition •

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As part of CND’s national Parliamentary lobby, inNovember we lobbied both our local MPs, JimFitzpatrick and Rushanara Ali, on Trident. They have

both been consistently opposed to unilateral nucleardisarmament and pro-Trident renewal, and it was interestingto see indications of an emergent divergence of viewsbetween them.

A very honest exchange of views was reported in themeeting with Jim, who said that he was currently 55% to

45% for keeping Tridentbut was constantlyreviewing the situation.

Rushanara, on theother hand, wasdismissive of CND’sposition, actuallyreferring to it as anoutdated 20th centuryargument. So we got

short shrift, although, as a consistent supporter of the Partyline, she may adapt to any change in Party policy onTrident. She was far more critical and questioning in herresponse on Syria, which we also discussed as theparliamentary vote on bombing was imminent.

In the event, on Syria, Jim voted with the Governmentand Rushanara against. In her public statement on why shevoted against the air strikes, she presented a rigorousargument in support of her view that “Bringing an end to theconflict and eliminating ISIL/Daesh requires a politicalsettlement, a credible military presence on the ground,backed by a serious plan for humanitarian support andpost-conflict reconstruction.” If only she would bring thesame critical intelligence to her stance on Trident.

Anti-Trident campaign • national context

The Parliamentary debate and vote on theGovernment’s National Security Strategy andStrategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) will

happen around mid-March. There will now not be a straightvote on finalising the current investment plan for Tridentrenewal (the “Main Gate” decision) but a vote to commit toTrident renewal, and change of policy to keep the projectfor the design and manufacture of the replacement for

Trident under annual review along with a voteon continuing to have Trident-armedsubmarines on “the principle of Continuous AtSea Deterrence”. n

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The recent well-attended AGM of London Region CNDsaw something of a turnaround regarding its focus,and suggests that the next year could well be an

interesting one. Former Chair, Jim Brann stood down aftera five-year stint, and was replaced by Carol Turner who hasalready proposed a number of activities for the comingyear. As you would expect many of these concern thestruggle to prevent the renewal of the Trident missilesystem, and the implications of the new leadership’s policydirection for the Labour Party. There was a feeling thatLondon Region could work more closely with local groups.Tower Hamlets CND would welcome this.Two things we really must consider are links

with our local Labour Party, andlobbying our two MPs.

You will recall that we hosted a debate with the TowerHamlets Labour Party in late 2014. With its growingmembership over the past few months, many of whom arelikely to be sympathetic to our views, perhaps now is thetime to consider a rematch? As for the MPs, it is a matter ofregret that both Rushanara and Jim are likely to vote for therenewal of Trident when the vote in Parliament happenslater this year. We have to consider how best to work onthem to change their views. Perhaps the probable changein policy following the Labour Party's Defence Review willhelp concentrate their minds?

THCND members might be interested in attending thenext LRCND public meeting at Conway Hall from 7.00pmon Wednesday March 2nd when Kate Hudson will bedeveloping the way forward in this crucial year for Britishnuclear disarmament, and will no doubt be helping us toadvance further the ideas above.TH CND public debate on TridentHosted by Queen Mary University

THCND Secretary Stephanie Clark met with QMUL ‘Centrefor Public Engagement’ staff at the beginning of Januaryto organise a public debate on Trident hosted by the

University. It was agreed that a panel of distinguished speakerswill debate a wide range of critical viewpoints on Britain’s nuclearweapons, examine the role of Britain as a nuclear-weapon stateand raise questions about foreign and defence policies whichwould meet Britain’s future needs and shared aspirations for asafer world. This public event will take place close to theParliamentary vote on Trident. We are determined to counterGovernment attempts to limit discussion, open debate, mediacollusion, manipulation and suppression of public scrutiny around“nuclear deterrence” propaganda. n

Watch out for further details.

Trident StrategyYES or NO

Arising from LONDONregion CND AGM

AROUND AND ABOUTSNIPPETS

Let’s Lobby our MPs on Trident too

Len Aldis who died veryrecently, will beremembered by many

people through his tirelesswork as a peace activitist.

He was a longtime memberand Chair of Tower Hamlets CND. However

he is best remembered for his liaison work with the ‘Mayorsfor Peace’ Initiative which encourages local councils toactively condemn nuclear weapons and aggressive actssuch as waging war. He was always a central figure inTavistock Square at the annual gathering held every August6th where peace activists commemorate the atomic attacksagainst Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of WWII.

He tirelessly worked toachieve “Mayors for Peace”status for Tower Hamlets whichhe did in 2010 when hepresented the Mayor (LutfurRahman) with a flag and giftsfrom the Japanese awardingbody to the people of TowerHamlets. A ‘Peace’ flag whichflies in the Town Hall wasreproduced by ArtZone Co-op.

33 years after Mayors forPeace was established, thenumber of member cities hasexceeded 6,900 from 161countries and regions andcontinues to grow. Mayors for Peace has nowgrown into an influential global network thatcan impact international public opinion callingfor the abolition of nuclear weapons. The 9thExecutive Conference of Mayors for Peacewas held in 2015 at Ypres, Belgium.

The participating mayors and representatives from theexecutive cities shared their respective activities towards

nuclear abolition andregarding other challengesthat their regions face.

In 2010, Tower Hamlets’Mayor, Lutfur Rahman,signed up to the ‘Mayors forPeace’ policy. The role has

now been handed on to the current TH Mayor, John Biggs.We all look forward to him actively supporting this initiativeand to keep flying the flag of peace. n

It was a great shock to us all to learn of the recent passingof Len Aldis, our former Chair and so much more. Lenwas involved in the wider peace movement for many

years. A strong opponent of the Vietnam War and supporterof the Vietnamese people for many years after the end ofthe War, he was also active in the movement for anindependent Palestinian state, and more progressiveorganisations than there is room to mention here.

As far as Tower Hamlets CND is concerned, he was aninspirational and tireless Chair for more years than he likedto remember, a man who never gave up whatever theobstacles. We all recall with awe his battle with the thenCouncil to get them to affiliate to the Mayors for Peaceorganisation. He was very pleased to learn shortly beforehis death that the current Mayor is keen to continue hispredecessor's work with us on this.

He was also a determined campaigner for the CampaignAgainst the Arms Trade and, more specifically, East LondonAgainst Arms Fairs. On one occasion he managed to gethimself invited as a delegate to the biennial arms fair at theExcel Centre, took photographs and spoke to exhibitors. Healso purchased a share in BAE Systems so that he couldattend their AGMs and harangue their Board! nThis was a man of strong beliefs and high principles.He will be greatly missed. Len’s funeraltook place on Monday 4th January 2016 atCity of London Crematorium in Manor Park.More info - http://len.aldis.muchloved.com

LenAldis(1930 - 2015)

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Tower Hamlets

CND

Stuff HappensExhibition by May Ayres1st September to 6th October 2016Belfry, St John on Bethnal Green, LondonMay Ayres’ skillfully crafted sculptural installa-tion works of fired ceramics expose the horrorof war and the war mongers plying theirdestructive trade across the world. A previousexhibition of her dramatic work “God's Wars”was shown in St John’s during 2011Images of her work can be seenon: www.mayayres.com/index.html

Here are some infoupdates on DSEItrials at StratfordCourt in January l Criminal damage against atank  (involving whiteboardmarker!) charge has beendropped.l Defendant charged withassaulting a police officer inthe exercise of his duty hasbeen acquitted.

Monthly East LondonAgainst the Arms Fair(ELAAF) meeting • SecondWednesday of the month,7-9pm at The Garden Café,7 Cundy Rd, E16 3DJCampaign against the returnof the DSEI arms fair in EastLondon - all opposed to ArmsFairs welcome.

Musical ProtestsNo More Arms FairsSaturday 20th Feb • 2 -5 pm Saturday 19th March • 2 -5 pmSaturday 23rd April • 2 -5 pmOutside ExCel Centre(Custom House DLR)www.elaaf.org or emailelaaf@hotmail.co.uk or call07513 792705.

Weekly VigilNo More Fukushimas!12:00 for start at 12:30Held every Friday sinceAugust 2012.05/02/2016 • 12/02/201626/02/2016 • 04/03/2016Japanese Embassy 101-104Piccadilly, London W1, insolidarity with Japanese anti-nuclear protestors. Organised

by Kick Nuclear, andJapanese Against Nuclearand CND. www.januk.orgInfo David, 020 7607 2302

Labour CNDConference & AGMSat, 30th Jan 2016 - 10amWith MPs Diane Abbott,Catherine West, LouiseHaigh, Ruth Cadbury, CliveLewis, Nick Brown and KateOsamor and others.Venue: Conway Hall, 25 RedLion Square, WC1R 4RL Info: 020-7607 2302

Gandhi Foundation AnnualMultifaith CelebrationSat, 30th Jan 2016 - 2pmAnimal welfare was a concernof Gandhi throughout his life.His first public speech was onanimal cruelty. Is the case forreducing meat consumptioneven stronger today than itwas in Gandhi's time?Graham Davey of the GandhiFoundation will introduce theday's speakers.Kingsley Hall, Powis Road,London E3 3HFOrganised by: Gandhi Fndwilliam@gandhifoundation.orgInfo: 07910215651

Walk in PeaceA little bit of peace, startingwith yourself - the firstSunday of every month.Please join us in a slow, silentwalk in peace for peace. Meetby ‘Speakers Corner Café’,just south of Speaker’sCorner, Hyde Park (MarbleArch tube)Sunday 7th Feb 201610.55am to start walking at

11.00am, returning to startingpoint at 12 noon.Organised by: Walk in PeaceInfo: Clare 020 8755 0353 orwalkinpeace@hotmail.co.uk

Ash WednesdayWed, 10/02/2016 - 15:00Witness to Nuclear WarPreparations@Ministry ofDefenceVenue: Ministry of Defence,Horse Guards Ave.London SW1A 2EXOrganised by: Pax Christiwith Christian CND andLondon Catholic Worker020 8203 4884info@paxchristi.org.uk

Pancakes for PeaceFri, 12/02/2016 - 00:00Aldermaston Women's PeaceCamp is held on the secondweekend of every month. Allwomen are welcome to comealong at any time - and malevisitors are welcome at campduring the day, but not duringthe evening or at night.Camp phone: 07946676761info@aldermaston.net

The Moment of Decision forTrident RenewalWed, 02/03/2016 - 19:00London Region CND PublicMeeting Speaker: KateHudson, followed by LRCNDCouncil meeting.Venue: Conway Hall, 25 RedLion Square, WC1R 4RL Organised by: London RegionCND. Info: 020-7607 2302.

International Women’s DayTue, 8 March 2016. Manylocal and London-wide events.

Key events to attend or rememberLet everyone know where the Action is • put the word out

Tower Hamlets

CND

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Join usThere are many ways in which youcan get involved in the campaignfor nuclear disarmament locallyand nationally.At the heart of CND’s work isbringing the issue of nucleardisarmament to peoples’ doorstepand relating it to our communities.The work of Tower Hamlets CND isvital as it reaches out to peoplewho may not have thought aboutnuclear disarmament before or feltthere was nothing that could bedone about it. You can decide howmuch you want to be involved inlocal campaigning. Send us yourstories (something you feelstrongly about), campaignactivities, news and photos or anydonations or support you can give. Our newsletter is also available onthe website. Contact us for amembership form and other info.

l We always welcome new peopleto our regular meetings at KingsleyHall* from 7.30pm on the secondThursday of every month. Pleasefeel free to simply turn up - youcan be assured of a friendlywelcome. (No meetings held in August)*Kingsley Hall,Powis Road, Bromley By Bow,London E3 3HJ

Tel: 020 7515 4681Email: towerhamletscnd@yahoo.co.ukW: www.towerhamletscnd.wordpress.com

“Common Women”A staged playreading with songsset at the Greenham Commonfeminist protest camp in the earlyeighties by THCND member JillTruman who was there.Entry will be free Date early summer (tbc)at Leytonstone LibraryPlayreading Group6 Church Lane, Londom E11 1HG(5 mins from Tube & 339 bus,opposite St John’s Church)For more information please contactJoan • Tel: 020 8981 8104 oremail: joangriffiths46@gmail.com

Future Event coming soon