nuclear-news

Britain’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has achieved much, and going strong today

60 years ago, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament was founded. Here’s what we’ve achieved over the decades

Our core objective of UK nuclear disarmament remains as yet unfulfilled. But it is clear in retrospect how CND’s campaigning – and that of its international partners – has affected government policy and decision-making  The Independent, UK, Kate Hudson  @CNDuk  17 Feb 18,  “………From its origins in local anti-testing groups – largely run by women concerned about hugely increased levels of radioactive strontium-90 in their children’s milk – CND burst onto the political scene 17 February 1958. Attempts to move Labour to an anti-nuclear position had failed in 1957, leading intellectuals and campaigners to take matters into their own hands, calling for a mass movement to defeat Britain’s bomb. The result was a meeting of thousands of people at Central Hall in Westminster, London, filled to overflowing………

The context of CND’s campaigns has changed continually: from the Cuban missile crisis to the war on Vietnam;   from the height of the Cold War to détente; from the “evil empire” of Ronald Reagan to the end of the Cold War; from the aggression of Bush and Blair through to the great dangers presented by Trump and his plans for “usable” nuclear weapons.

February 19, 2018 - Posted by Christina MacPherson | history, UK, weapons and war