Helensborough CND’s conference considers the links between nuclear weapons and civil nuclear power. Labour CND committee member Rae Street is among the speakers, contributing on CND’s No to Nuclear Power campaign. Register now to hear an impressive list of specialists including Beyond Nuclear founder Linda Pentz Gunter and Arthur West, Scottish CND’s Trade Union Network and conference chair.
Paul Rogers: ‘much UK military policy is obsolete’
Project for Peace and Justice set to launch
Register now for Jeremy Corbyn’s Project for Peace and Justice which launches 17 January with a start line up. The webinar includes Jeremy Corbyn will be joined by Zarah Sultana MP, Ronnie Kasrils, a South African Minister under Nelson Mandela, Yanis Varoufakis, Former Greek Finance Minister, climate campaigner Scarlett Westbrook, Unite’s Len McCluskey, and Baroness Christine Blower, former teachers leader.
‘You don’t have to take what you’re given. You don’t have to live without power and without hope. Things can, and they will change,’ says Corbyn. Visit the P&J website and read the mission statement of a project that aims to bring people together for social and economic justice, peace, and human rights, in Britain and across the world.
Richard Burgon MP urges Labour ‘don’t support Johnson’s military spending hike’
Writing in the Morning Star on 17 December, Socialist Campaign Group Secretary Richard Burgon called for ‘our whole movement’ to join Labour CND’s online lobby to persuade Labour MPs to oppose Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s £16 billion military spending increase. Burgon said: ‘Labour CND has launched a campaign to make the case for real security, tackling the climate crisis, global poverty and the Covid-19 pandemic — not a Tory military spending spree. It is one our whole movement should back.’
Read Burgon’s article here
Lobby your MP here
Lobby your Labour MP
During a health pandemic, with the UK economy set to nose dive, and the majority of families struggling to make ends meet, Labour CND believes it’s a big mistake for our parliamentary front bench to support Boris Johnson’s military spending hike. Our representatives should be making the case for real security, tackling the Covid crisis, the climate emergency, and playing our part in combatting global poverty.
If your MP is a Labour MP, let them know what you think. Drop them a line right now using Labour CND’s online lobby.
And while you’re here, take a look at our model motion for your local Labour Party.
Join Labour CND’s campaign against Johnson’s military spending spree
On 19 November, in a House of Commons update on the Integrated Review, Boris Johnson’s announced a huge military spendig hike. Reaffirmed by Chancellor Richi Sunak’s autumn statement, the government is committed to an increase of £24.1 billion over 4 years — that’s £16 bn in addition to the 0.5% above-inflation increase already promised. Responding for Labour, Keir Starmer welcomed the increase. Let Labour know their support for this Tories spending spree is misguided. Here’s what you can do:
Join Jeremy Corbyn and guests on Sunday, register here to attend our webinar co-hosted by our partners from Arise, A Festival of Labour’s Left Ideas
Download our model motion for your branch or constituency Labour Party
And please contact your Labour MP via our online lobby
Cast your vote now in NEC elections
Voting in Labour’s National Executive Committee elections has begun. Use yours by noon on 12 November or lose the chance to have you say.
Grassroots Voice candidates had the most local party nominations. It’s time to turn that support into votes and elect Constituency Labour Party reps who are committed to nuclear disarmament, will defend party democracy and support progressive anti-austerity policies.
Your ballot should have arrived in your inbox by now. The email comes from labourelections@cesvotes.com and has ‘Your ballot – Labour Party elections’ in the subject line. If you haven’t had an email, check your spam folder. You can apply to have your ballot reissued. Monday 26 October is the ballot reissue day.
Labour is using STV, single transferable vote, for the first time in these elections. STV is more complicated than first-past-the-post voting system it replaces. STV means it’s really important how you order your votes – who you put first, second, third, etc.
All the organisations in the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance have agreed a region by region priority order that will maximise the chances of getting the #GV6 elected. The order of preference for each region is reproduced below. If you’re unsure about which Labour Party region you’re in, use Momentum’s helpful postcode finder.
Want to know more about how STV works, check out Single Transferable Vote Explained.
And you can read the statement of each #GV6 candidate here
Ann Henderson on Trident
Labour CND and Arise, A Festival of Labour’s Left Ideas jointly organised a Foreign Policy Q&A webinar with Grassroots Voice candidates for Labour’s National Executive Committee. Ann Henderson reviewed Scottish Labour’s position on Trident.
Visit Labour CND’s YouTube channel to hear what all #GV6 candidates had to say on Froeign Policy – Gemma Bolton, Yasmine Dar, Nadia Jama, Laura Pidcock, and Mish Rahman
Register here for #GrassrootsVoice #GV6 Rally with Jeremy Corbyn and others on 15 October
CND annual conference
CND’s annual conference takes place in two parts this year. Real security, lessons from the pandemic, on Sunday 18 October 14.00 to 16.30, with Jeremy Corbyn MP, is open to everyone.
Cllr Rokhsana Fiaz, Mayor of Newham, and Tom Unterrainer of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, join international security specialist Professor Paul Rogers of Bradford University Peace Studies Department and others for a discussion on real security in the post-pandemic world.
There are workshops on Visions of a green world, Security for the many, and Creative campaigning, plus Crane making and an online exhibition Time, Memory and Nuclear Weapons, curated by Hannah Kemp-Welch.
The conference is open to everyone, but please register in advance
Our members-only 2020 annual general meeting and policy conference, Campaigning in the post-virus world, is held a week earlier on Saturday October 10, details here.
Labour NEC elections
Nominations for the Constituency Labour Party places on Labour’s National Executive Committee have closed. All six Grassroots Voice candidates are on the ballot, and the battle for votes is on. Labour CND Co-Chair CAROL TURNER reports.
A total of 454 local Labour Parties made nominations, which LabourList claims is the highest number in any NEC election, Of the 66 candidates who sought nomination for the 9 CLP places, 42 have won the 5 nominations needed to make it onto the ballot paper.
Labour CND urges support for ‘the #GV six candidates. We did so because they are the one group of candidates standing on an internationalist manifesto, explicitly committed to peace and nuclear disarmament.
Momentum, Campaign for Labour Party Democracy, and Labour Representation Committee are among the 13 Centre Left Grassroots Alliance organisations backing #GV candidates. A CLPD spokesperson welcomed the good results for the six, saying that nominations showed ‘there is mainstream support amongst Labour members for defending a socialist policy agenda and democratic rights for members’.
The campaign to win support is far from over. The first time use of an STV voting system, as opposed to first past the post, makes it much harder for candidates to cross the finish line. A divided vote for the NEC by-elections in February saw progressive candidates lose places that could otherwise have been won. Watch this space for information about STV, and tips on how to rank your favourite candidates.