TRIDENT PLOUGHSHARES
Press release: 23rd May 2016
The UK section of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons has pledged its support to the planned month of nonviolent disruption of the British nuclear weapon assembly plant at Burghfield in Berkshire.
ICAN is playing a vital part in the movement for a global ban on nuclear weapons. That movement took a big step forward at the recent UN Open-ended Working Group on Nuclear Disarmament when a large majority of nations indicated their wish to begin negotiations for a ban treaty. Meanwhile, ICAN-UK has begun a new project to highlight the dangers involved in the transportation of nuclear warheads across the UK.
Matt Hawkins of ICAN-UK[1] said:
“It is wonderful to see the commitment of the Trident Ploughshares group, never ceasing in their fight to make Britain and the world a safer place by calling for the scrapping of Trident. ICAN-UK offers its full support and solidarity to their campaign.
Building on the years of successful campaigning by Trident Ploughshares and other groups, ICAN-UK is launching a new campaign, powered by communities, to raise awareness of the threat nukes pose to the British public. Unknown to many, nuclear weapons with the power to kill 10 million people in a single blast are routinely carried on our roads, putting our schools, hospitals, workplaces, and homes in danger. We hope that when politicians listen to the public’s concerns about these convoys they will make the right decision and vote this year to scrap Trident.”
The aim of the month of disruption is to make it as difficult as possible for the plant to continue its ongoing work – the assembly, refurbishment and upgrading of the atomic warheads for Britain’s submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The groups so far committed[2] are drawn from a huge range of backgrounds. They include local organisations concerned with the lack of safety at the site and groups campaigning on other issues such as women’s rights, climate change and human rights abuses. Many of those taking part have considerable experience of peaceful intervention at the UK nuclear weapon sites, including AWE Burghfield.
[1] http://uk.icanw.org/campaign/ Matt Hawkins 07515895998
[2] Monday 6th June – Trident Ploughshares
Tuesday 7th June – Scottish groups
Wednesday 8th June – European mainland groups
Thursday 9th June – Yorkshire and North of England
Monday 13th June – Students
Tuesday 14th June – Southern Region
Wednesday 15th June – Wales
Thursday 16th June – Academics
Monday 20th June – Women
Monday 27th June – Religious and Faith based groups
Wednesday 29th June – London
Thursday 30th June – Bristol
[3] Contact: Angie Zelter 074-565-88943 tridentploughshares.org
Matt Hawkins 07515895998
International anti-nuclear campaign gives backing to protests at UK nuclear plant – word doc