Barton, Kat

On Wednesday 14 March, the government won a House of Commons vote to replace Britain's Trident nuclear weapons. Thanks to the campaigning efforts of the peace movement, it also suffered its biggest rebellion on a domestic policy issue since Labour came to power in 1997.

Trident vote day was a busy day for anti-nuclear campaigners, with pressure being applied from all sides. From Faslane to Plymouth, people showed their opposition to Britain's weapons of mass destruction, by lobbying,…

London's 2012 Olympics have been taking a bit of a bashing in the mainstream press, but not being the type to jump on the bandwagon, PN attempts to take a rather more kindly look at this controversial project.

The modern Olympic Games began with the noble aim of promoting international understanding through sporting competition, and in the past the Games have seen country delegations as well as individual sportsmen and women promote understanding of some important political…

Activists throughout France and Germany staged a series of actions over a two-week period in November, in protest at the transportation of 12 containers of highly radioactive nuclear waste across their borders.

The Castor containers were transporting German waste from the La Hague plutonium factory in Northern France - where it is reprocessed - to Gorleben in northern Germany, where it is sent for so-called interim storage.

In recent years, Castor…

Having made a living out of ridiculing the evil antics of arms companies and other corporate criminals in his stand-up shows and on national television, Mark Thomas has finally got round to writing his first book.

Unsurprisingly, the butt of his written jokes is of course the arms trade. Well, the arms trade, the government, fellow activists and anyone else he cares to point the finger at. Starting with a good old rant about “why the reader should care about the arms trade”, it's…

The campaign to stop the next generation of nuclear weapons has received a lot of support - in particular from faith communities. From the Vatican to the local Friends Meeting House, calls to prevent Trident replacement can be heard, and many are choosing to turn their faith into action.

Every month outside the gates of AWE Aldermaston, worshippers hold a multi-faith vigil to remember those affected by acts of aggression and to renew their commitment to non-violently campaigning…

The events in the Middle East during July and August resulted in a flurry of activity back here in Britain, with people from Brighton to Glasgow taking action to “bring the war home”. The heavy-handed tactics of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) were widely derided as “disproportionate”, and many people were compelled to do more than just march. Some of these actions even got covered in the mainstream press, most notably the Trident Ploughshares “citizens' inspections” at Prestwick Airport…

After months or torturous legal proceedings, harassment and imprisonment, good news from Brighton's SmashEDO as, in March, the legal cases brought against them began to crumble.

Two anti-war activists have had a temporary injunction against them lifted and indemnity costs awarded to them by a High Court judge who issued a damning indictment of EDO MBM's conduct of the trial. Mr Justice Walker accused arms manufacturer EDO of “woeful neglect” of the issues in its preparations towards…

This month sees the launch of a new interactive website from Conscience The Peace Tax Campaign. From 2 March, visitors to PeacePays.org will be able to see how nonviolent peacebuilding initiatives are not only desirable, but are actually less costly and more effective than current approaches to security.

The UK is the third largest military spender in the world and almost 10% of our taxes go to the military. Out of a military budget of over #33 billion, only 3% is spent on conflict…

Having worked as Editorial Assistant at Peace News for a year now, I've witnessed the hard work and dedication that goes into every issue. I've also observed the quiet way in which one or two ideas for stories will transform into a whole paper full of news. With Ippy taking a well deserved break this month, I fretted over where I would find stories to fill the pages of PN. Like others, I had underestimated the peace movement. Every week, groups of concerned citizens are taking…

On Saturday 13 August, shoppers in Brighton town centre witnessed the extent to which our right to protest is being curtailed, when a peaceful demonstration against arms manufacturer EDO was abruptly halted by police using heavy-handed tactics.

Around 50 peace campaigners - including the elderly and mothers with children - met at 12 noon in Churchill Square where they were greeted by police officers carrying surveillance equipment. Whilst some protesters had travelled from London,…

Wednesday 6 July marked the first day of the G8 summit, so on Tuesday night, while eight men in suits were preparing to sit down to a meal of Marrbury smoked salmon and roast fillet of Glenarm lamb, thousands of activists were finalising their plans f

Campaigners scored a partial victory in the courts at the end of April when an attempt by EDO/MBM Technologies - Brighton's resident arms manufacturer - to create an exclusion zone around its factory, was temporarily thwarted (see PN2461 cover story).

Recent weeks have been a peak period for big corporations' AGMs, many of which have been targeted by demonstrators and by (very) smallscale shareholders claiming their legal right to attend - and to embarrass the directors by raising issues they would rather weren't talked about.

Anna Jones reports: More usually known by their former name, British Aerospace, BAES attracted activists from the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) and elsewhere to their AGM - at…

In Greece today, militarism manifests itself most visibly in the tens of thousands of young men who every year are obliged to perform compulsory military service.

Unlike most other EU member states, Greece still practises conscription, with the authorities demanding that all Greek males between the ages of 19 and 45 join the armed forces.

Greek men have declared their objection to compulsory military service since long before the right to conscientious objection was…

On Wednesday 2 February, a pirate ship set sail from the south coast of England, docking three days later at Carlingford Lough in Ireland. But this wasn't just any pirate ship, it was the Enterprise - an ex Royal Navy minesweeper - converted by volunteers into a force for good by the Southampton-based charity Pirates For Peace.

The aim of the Pirates For Peace project is to foster cooperation and opportunity for the young people of Ireland, north and south, through the…