Scottish Council calls on big pension fund to stop investing in weapons makers
The Ferret 5th March 2021, Inverclyde Council has called on Scotland’s largest council pension fund to stop investing in arms and to commit to ethical investments. A motion was passed this week after Inverclyde Council was told that Strathclyde Pension Fund (SPF) held shares in 11 of the world’s 20 biggest arms manufacturers, including some involved in the production of nuclear weapons. The council’s decision has been welcomed by Campaign Against Arms Trade, Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) and Don’t Bank on the Bomb.
https://theferret.scot/inverclyde-council-pension-fund-invest-ethically/
How Scotland’s Dunoon became an American nuclear base, and a target
60 years on: The day the US Navy came armed with nuclear missiles https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19140712.60-years-day-us-navy-came-armed-nuclear-missiles/ By Sandra Dick 7 Mar 21, THE sun shone brightly over the calm Holy Loch on a beautiful early March day in 1961, as USS Proteus – 18,000 tons of American might – glided towards her foe.
By late afternoon, she was passing Islay. And as the US Navy vessel drew closer to her final destination, anti-nuclear demonstrators who had been waiting for weeks for the chance to pounce, braced themselves for their attack. The first salvo of a David versus Goliath battle saw protesters in dinghies and canoes pitted against the most menacing of modern warfare, and it would rage – on and off – for months to come. It’s now 60 years since USS Proteus, soon followed by a fleet of US Navy Polaris submarines, set up base close to Dunoon. And although the area was not unfamiliar with submarine activity – Royal Navy submarines were based in the area throughout the Second World War – the Americans, with their terrifying nuclear arsenal, a raging Cold War and the relatively fresh memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, meant this was no normal military manoeuvre. The US Navy and Polaris would remain a feature of the Dunoon landscape for the next 31 years. For those who could put aside any concerns of living with nuclear missiles on their doorstep, it brought economic and social benefits – and more than a few weddings between US sailors and local women. For others, the presence of the American nuclear force put a picturesque and peaceful corner of the country in Soviet crosshairs, and propelled Scotland into the very core of a deadly nuclear war machine. The announcement that the Americans were coming was completely unexpected, recalls historian Trevor Royle, who has written about the Holy Loch base in his book on the Cold War in Scotland, ‘Facing The Bear’. “It came as a great surprise to people of Scotland – it was a shock to suddenly have the Cold War on their doorstep,” he says. America needed an operating base for their Polaris fleet,” he adds. “At the time Britain’s nuclear deterrent was V Bomber Force, obsolete bombers that could fly to Moscow and drop bombs but couldn’t get back. It was a one-way mission, and Britain wanted a system which worked better than that.” Faced with being left behind as a nuclear nation, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan struck a deal with President Dwight D. Eisenhower for the Holy Loch to become an extension of US territory and a berth for nuclear bombs. In return, Britain would acquire the Polaris nuclear delivery system, enabling the Royal Navy to operate its own fleet from Faslane. However, the announcement in November 1960, propelled Holy Loch communities into a world of US and Soviet war games, which would see submarines play cat and mouse across fishing grounds and Atlantic waters. Most Scots, says Trevor, accepted what was heading their way. Some, among them taxi drivers and bed and breakfast businesses around Dunoon who had feared cheap foreign holidays were set to scupper the tourist trade, were more than happy. Others were outraged. Isobel Lindsay was just 17 years old at the time and secretary of Lanarkshire CND. Soon, she’d be among hundreds to descend on Dunoon to express outrage at the arrival of nuclear weapons in Scottish waters. “The announcement came out of the blue,” she recalls. “Until then, there had been a small anti-nuclear movement in Scotland. But this ignited it.” The arrival of the Polaris fleet’s support ship, USS Proteus, with its crew of 980 officers and men and the prospect of up to 500 dependent families on the way, signalled a call to action; protestors took to the water in tiny crafts to wave anti-nuclear banners and flags and 1,000 protesters marched along the loch. A week later, the Patrick Henry arrived, the first of ten Polaris submarines and with its 135 crew primed at a minute’s notice to blast off up to 16 Polaris rockets, each capable of destroying a city 1500 miles away. It was greeted by a lone canoeist who, after a valiant 15-minute chase by eight patrol vessels, was deliberately tipped in the water. Isobel, whose father had been among the first British forces to enter Hiroshima in the wake of the 1945 atomic bomb, remembers the protest movement growing in size. “Very quickly there were demonstrations in Glasgow and at the Holy Loch,” she says. “One march was organised from London to a 24-hour sit down that blocked Ardnadam pier. “The police tactics were to leave us sitting there – the sailors had to clamber over us to get to the pier.” Protest songs were hastily written, including Ding Dong Dollar, which set those keen to benefit financially from the base against those opposed to nuclear weapons, while protests were laboriously organised by letter, calls from phone boxes and plotted on maps. By May, a two storey floating barracks had been towed to the Holy Loch, providing accommodation for up to 350 personnel, and attitudes towards the protestors hardened. Canoeists who dared to approached US vessels were sprayed with jet hoses, on land, demonstrators were met by dozens of police, wire mesh, iron railings, barbed wire and ‘black Marias’. In Dunoon, locals picked their way between protestors and US Navy sailors. And while taxi drivers enjoyed a boom in business and generous tips, Glasgow’s prostitutes also descended. “It was a great culture shock,” adds Trevor. “Until then, the only knowledge most people had of Americans came from the movies. The Americans came with the crew cuts and smart clothes. It was like Hollywood had come to Dunoon.” Up to 4,000 Americans were attached to the Holy Loch base, their children attended local schools and accommodation was snapped up. But, says Trevor: “Dunoon was very much a target in the event of any nuclear hostilities. “In addition to Polaris submarines, the Holy Loch was home to Hunter Killer submarines, and they all played the most dangerous games of cat and mouse with their Soviet opposite numbers. “Many fishing boats were caught up, among them the Antares.” The small trawler sank in November 1990 after its nets became tangled with an RN submarine. All four crew lost their lives. By that time, Polaris protestors had turned their attention to Faslane instead. And as the Cold War ended, the US Navy packed up. The last ship left in March 1992. “They left nothing behind,” adds Trevor. “Apart from the American sailors who found themselves in a foreign country and made friends with the local girls, fell in love and married, you would have to search hard to know there had been a US presence there at all.” |
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Hinkley Point B nuclear station to close ‘early’ due to aging graphite blocks


https://www.neimagazine.com/features/featurewhy-close-hinkley-point-b-early-8565897/
Opinion poll – 77% of Ayshire public support a total ban on all nuclear weapons.
Ayrshire CND are greatly encouraged by recent polllling which shows that 77 per cent of the public support a total ban on all nuclear weapons.
1 March 2021 Anti-nuclear campaigners across Ayrshire have been given a huge boost in their battle to force an end to the arms race, writes Stewart McConnell.
Ayrshire CND are greatly encouraged by recent polling which shows that 77 per cent of the public support a total ban on all nuclear weapons.
The survey also showed that almost 60 per cent of people want Britain to sign up to the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which came into force last month.
Group secretary Arthur West, pictured, said: “This recent polling was organised by CND at UK level in conjunction with the professional polling company Survation and the results are hugely encouraging for our campaign to rid this country and our world of the scourge of nuclear weapons.”
“The government’s own figures show that the cost of maintaining Britain’s nuclear weapons based at Faslane is an eye watering 2 billion pounds a year.
“This is frankly money which could be better spent on decent things like health and education and creating quality jobs in areas such as renewable energy and affordable house building.”
The opinion poll referred to was organised by CND at UK level in conjunction with polling company Survation and was conducted on January 12-13.
Labour’s nuclear weapons stance needs a rethink
Labour’s nuclear weapons stance needs a rethink, Guardian, Richard Norton-Taylor
London 28 Feb 21,
Readers respond to the shadow defence secretary’s announcement that his party’s commitment to Trident is ‘non-negotiable’
You report (Labour to state ‘non-negotiable’ support for UK’s nuclear weapons, 25 February) that the shadow defence secretary, John Healey, says his party’s commitment to nuclear weapons is “non-negotiable”, seemingly taking a harder line even than successive Conservative governments, which have at least supported talks on multilateral nuclear disarmament.
The new Labour leadership in its rhetoric seems more frightened of being accused at home of being weak on defence than a nuclear attack by a foreign power. For years, Whitehall analysts have considered a pandemic more likely than any real threat of a nuclear attack. Yet for years, ministers and opposition frontbenchers ignored the former while exaggerating the latter. Trade union leaders, meanwhile, back a new Trident missile programme and spending more than £200bn on unusable weapons, citing the need to preserve highly skilled jobs. Yet Britain has had to bank on French engineers for civil nuclear power stations of which Britain now appears to be in dire need. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/28/labours-nuclear-weapons-stance-needs-a-rethink
Jeremy Corbyn – Britain Should Join Nuclear Ban Treaty and Scrap Nukes.

Jeremy Corbyn used a speech at the Stop the War Coalition AGM today to make the case for the labour movement taking a stand against nuclear weapons and US-led wars of intervention.
Speaking to Labour Outlook he said, “The public consensus is changing. One hundred and twenty countries have signed the Treaty on the Prevention of Nuclear Weapons at the UN this year.”
In his speech at the AGM, Jeremy pointed out how three out of five people in the UK think we should join them, and four out of five people support a total ban on all nuclear weapons globally.
Jeremy added, “Something else has happened. People have begun to understand where the real threats to our security are.
From coronavirus to environmental destruction to economic inequality, we face threats that the war machine cannot fix, and can only worsen.”
Yesterday saw Labour members across the country oppose the Party’s leadership decision to say support for nuclear weapons was not negotiable, including Emma Dent Coad and Diane Abbott MP in interviews with this publication.
Assange’s partner exposes ongoing denial of his legal and democratic rights,
Moris provided a succinct summary of the issues of democratic principle at stake, in the US attempt to prosecute Assange for lawful publishing activities that exposed war crimes, and updated his supporters on the current stage of the legal campaign to secure his freedom. The January 4 verdict, forbidding extradition, had “taken into account” the “extensive medical evidence” presented during last year’s trial, Moris explained. Assange’s dispatch to the US had been blocked on the grounds that it would be “oppressive.” His health issues, including serious depression, and the brutal character of the US prison system, meant there would be a great risk of Assange taking his own life if he were extradited. The US immediately responded, in the final days of the administration of President Donald Trump, by formally signalling an appeal. Trump’s Democratic Party successor, President Joe Biden, in his first weeks in office, rejected calls by civil liberties and press freedom organisations for the US Department of Justice to drop its pursuit of Assange, demonstrating the bipartisan character of the persecution. The High Court will decide after March 29 whether prosecutors, acting on behalf of the US state, will be permitted to proceed with their appeal. Moris stated that the next stage for the defence was to submit a response to the US grounds of appeal. She then reviewed the anti-democratic implications of Judge Vanessa Baraitser’s January 4 ruling. It had denied Assange’s extradition on health grounds, but “did not side with him on the wider public interest arguments.” Baraitser had upheld virtually all of the prosecution’s substantive arguments, effectively green-lighting future attempts by governments to prosecute journalists and publishers for exposing material that they deem to be “classified” and of “national security” significance, regardless of the public interest of what is exposed. Continue reading |
Lobbyists from West Cumbria Mining appointed to Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM)


wonder how CoRWM expect Mark Kirkbride’s business interests of a coal mine in the same area will make the already complex and faulted geology in the Eastern Irish Sea area safer?)
Problems in decommissioning legacy nuclear waste silos
Jonathan Lamb: “We wanted to increase productivity but realised that further improvements to the machining process were impossible using conventional machinery and fixturing.
City giant Legal and General will not be funding Sizewell nuclear project

L&G has not spoken publicly about its plans but in a written response to a pension-holder, one of its investment service consultants said: “I have had it confirmed that Legal & General will not be investing in the Sizewell C nuclear power plant.” L&G declined to comment further. It comes after Aviva Investors expressed concerns about the potential ESG (environmental, social and governance) risks of nuclear power. It said the ESG impact of nuclear was “far from clear at this time.” L&G’s boss Nigel Wilson reportedly described Hinkley in 2016 as a “£25bn waste of money”. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/02/20/sizewell-c-proves-aturn-off-city-giant-legal-general/
Relief that Bradwell nuclear project has stalled
altogether.
announced engagement and active project work on Bradwell B will be paused
for at least a year and says it indicates a “significant reversal” for
the project.
Generation Company – a collaboration between China General Nuclear (CGN)
and EDF – have stalled. The Bradwell group said, in order to tightly
control expenditure, it needs to pause aspects of the project it is not yet
ready to progress. But BANNG chairman Prof Andy Blowers said: “Despite
urging the developer to suspend public engagement during the pandemic,
BANNG was told the national need was urgent and it was in the public
interest that the proposed development is not indefinitely or even
substantially delayed.
https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/19094101.baang-reacts-positively-bradwell-b-talks-paused/
RESIDENTS fear nuclear waste is buried beneath land being earmarked for development.
![]() countryside on the edge of the borough in its draft local plan as suitable for employment uses. But residents and West Pennine Tory councillor Julie
Slater fear nuclear waste was dumped on old mineshafts in the 1950s. The green belt land between Belthorn and Guide is included in the draft local plan which runs until 2037 as ideal for business, commercial and job-creating development. Cllr Slater, Darwen MP Jake Berry, his Hyndburn Tory colleague Sara Britcliffe want the 94 acres removed from the blueprint while the nuclear waste concerns are investigated. Blackburn with Darwen
Council’s growth boss Cllr Phil Riley said preliminary investigations found no evidence of any atomic material. Cllr Slater said: “The site is located in a Coal Authority ‘High Risk Area’ and there are a number of mine shafts along the Grane Road. “In the early 1950s residents believe a large amount of nuclear waste was dumped into the shafts along the roadside. “There was no formal and very little informal regulation so it is unclear as to the exact location, amount and what it contains, but sources suggest up to 900 tonnes. “It is unclear where the tunnels from these shafts are but there is a high chance they run into the proposed site and our fear is the waste could be disturbed when work begins. https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/19099926.blackburn-nuclear-waste-fears-development-plans/ |
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Over 100,000 people sign petition to stop Sizewell nuclear, save nature reserve
East Anglian Daily Times 16th Feb 2021, More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power station to be rejected because of its fearednimpact on an internationally-important nature reserve.
The RSPB Love Minsmere campaign launched a national advertising campaign last week
targeting EDF Energy offices with more experts and wildlife campaigners backing its fight against the £20billion project.
https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/rspb-love-minsmere-petition-hits-100000-target-7327452
Is this the end of the road for UK’s Bradwell nuclear project?
16 February, 2021, The Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) considers the announcement by BRB, the UK division of China General Nuclear (CGN), that engagement and all active project work on Bradwell B will be paused for at least a year indicates a significant reversal for the project. Despite urging the developer to suspend public engagement during the pandemic, BANNG was told the national need was ‘urgent’ and it was in the public interest that the proposed development ‘is not indefinitely or even substantially delayed’.
‘Now it seems, the project is slowing down and no longer so vital. The indefinite pause makes one wonder if this could be the beginning of the end for a project for which there is no vital need and which will create irretrievable damage and danger to the coastal communities of Essex’, said Prof. Andy Blowers, Chair of BANNG. Until a year ago CGN was claiming it was ramping up its plans for Bradwell B to take pole position in the UK’s civil nuclear programme as other projects fell by the wayside. This acceleration has apparently been impeded by the problem of travel for engineers between the UK and China during the pandemic and the risk that work is being delayed and getting out of sequence. It may be that this is the precipitating cause of the delay but there were already signs that the project was encountering difficulties that could lead to ultimate abandonment. First among these was the massively negative public reaction to the proposals that were revealed on the eve of the first lockdown. People were shocked by the sheer scale of the project and its massive impact on environment, communities and wellbeing. Even the Environment Agency (EA) was scathing in its criticism emphasising the contrast between the plan’s economic ambitions and the inadequate ambition for the environment and lack of detailed information given by the developer. In the last few weeks the EA has produced a cautious assessment of the reactors planned for Bradwell indicating there are a number of issues to be resolved before the project gets design approval. On top of this came the loss of political support. Initially, all the main local authorities welcomed the power station for the potential jobs and wealth it would bring but making clear support was contingent on environmental protection and improvement. First Colchester Borough and then Maldon District, which had been a major protagonist for Bradwell B, declared total opposition to the proposals. Maldon went further, turning down BRB’s planning application for land investigations at the site. The company has appealed but the long delay by the planning inspector in determining the appeal suggests there may be problems with environmental impacts. Elsewhere, the nuclear industry is running into trouble. The recent decision by the infrastructure planning inspectorate to recommend refusal of planning for the Wylfa project in North Wales on environmental grounds bodes ill for both Sizewell and Bradwell where environmental sensitivities are at least as strong. The threat to the iconic Colchester Native Oyster and Brent Geese are among the many environmental impacts posed by Bradwell B. The potential suitability of the Bradwell site has long been contested by BANNG and it is currently under review by the Government. Recent climate change predictions indicate that the site could be overwhelmed by sea-level rise and storm surges before the end of this century and well before the site could be cleared of spent fuel and other highly radioactive wastes during the next century. And the Government’s support for nuclear power as set out in its Energy White Paper is hardly evangelical: the Government ‘will remain open to other projects if the nuclear industry demonstrates that it is able to reduce costs and deliver to time and budget’. On Bradwell B specifically the White Paper is silent. Lastly, in the geopolitical sphere, there are serious concerns about security risks in inviting Chinese participation in the development of the UK’s critical infrastructure. It is quite possible, some would say likely, that the project will be withdrawn as part of the fall out in deteriorating Chinese and UK relations. Andy Blowers commented: ‘Taking all these issues together, it is quite possible that the pause will provide the prelude to final abandonment of the project. Covid-19 may be the final straw. For far too long this black cloud has been hanging over the Blackwater. At last there are signs of a silver lining’. |
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Lancaster City Council will call on UK to join nuclear weapons ban
Lancaster City Council will call on government to join nuclear weapons ban
City councillors have voted in favour of writing to the government to urge it to sign up to the United Nation’s Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which came into force last month. Lancaster Guardian, By Nick Lakin, Monday, 15th February 2021, The motion was brought to council by Green Councillor Mandy Bannon, who represents Marsh ward.
South Lakeland and Lancaster District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), has praised the council for its decision.
The motion brought to council was in response to a global campaign organised by the International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017………
Lancaster will join 16 other UK councils who already support the ICAN campaign including Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh, Oxford, Norwich, and several authorities in London and Scotland…….https://www.lancasterguardian.co.uk/news/uk-news/lancaster-city-council-will-call-government-join-nuclear-weapons-ban-3134898
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