Westminster

13 August 2011Feature

In March, the government is set to hold a parliamentary vote on the replacement of Britain's Trident nuclear fleet. Peace News caught up with Kate Hudson, chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, for a chat about demonstrations, bedfellows, and responding to the challenges ahead.

Tell us a bit about your involvement with the antinuclear movement.

I first took part in anti-nuclear actions in the early 1980s. I went on the big anti-cruise demonstrations and went to Greenham a couple of times, for events like “Embrace the Base”. I didn't do anything much on the issue after that until the late 1990s, when I started to get alarmed about war and US foreign policy, particularly in relation to nuclear weapons. The two things that worried me were the expansion of NATO…

13 August 2011Feature

DEMONSTRATE Along with the national “Stop Trident” demonstration on 24 February, various opportunities for demonstrating present themselves over the coming weeks. LOBBY Several campaign groups are calling for serious lobbying of MPs on the run-up to the parliamentary debate and vote. CND are asking people to get their MPs to sign EDM 579. A Lobby Pack with details of how to go about this is available on their website. See http://www.cnduk.org or call 020 7700…

1 March 2010News

The Green Party is focusing its attention on three constituencies where it has a reasonable chance of electing a Green MP in this year’s general election: Lewisham Deptford, Norwich South and Brighton Pavilion. Britain is the only sizeable European country never to have had any Green national legislative presence.

Brighton Pavilion represents the Greens’ best chance at achieving this milestone. With nine councillors, the Greens have more representation than the other parties in…

3 March 2009Comment

Because it takes so many years to actually get anywhere, even in the council election, I’ve found there’s more focus on building a campaign than actually becoming a part of the “party machine”.

I’ve never felt the sort of necessary dedication needed to actually get elected for office. I’m not really a party animal.

I’ve been surprised by how much more time people spend talking about tactics than they do talking about policy.

I think so many people who stand for office…

1 April 2007News

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,…

16 March 2007Feature

Following the publication of the White Paper, The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent, in December 2006, the government promised a parliamentary debate and vote on their proposals for Trident replacement. That vote is likely to take place in the second or third week of March (date unconfirmed when PN went to press).

It is believed that MPs will only be presented with one set of proposals to vote on (the government's, naturally). Despite polls consistently…

3 May 2006Comment

Working on the solid nonviolent principle that we should transform our enemies, PN brings you a slightly tongue-in-cheek column dedicated to getting to know our "enemies" better.

Well we've all heard that slogan by now haven't we? Something about blue green algae? Pond slime?

Yes, David Cameron and his merry band of Tories have suddenly discovered that bicycles are The Way Forward and have turned their well-tailored be-suited backs on the luxury Rolls, the Mercs and the SUVs. Jolly good isn't it? Cameron has Two Great Men working to make sure he stays green: John Gummer (he of “eat the mad cow burger” fame) and Zac Goldsmith (an eco pin-up if ever there was…

3 May 2006Comment

Last month's Peace News carried an article by Eddy Canfor-Dumas in which he argued the case for the establishment of a "Ministry for Peace". This month we invited an opposing view. Andreas Speck makes his pitch for why a Ministry for Peace would merely be.

In last month's issue of Peace News (PN2472) Eddy Canfor-Dumas made the case for a Ministry for Peace as part of the government. However, it seems he is so deeply rooted in government thinking that he didn't even feel the need to explain why a ministry should be a good idea.

We have ministries for everything that we (we? Or the government?) think is important, and obviously, peace is important, so we need a ministry as “part of government dedicated to pursuing and…

3 April 2006Comment

Established in 2003, the Ministry for Peace (MfP) is "an organisation working for the creation of a Ministry for Peace within government". The case for this controversial - and to some minds positively counter-revolutionary - initiative is made here by the Chair of MfP, Eddy Canfor-Dumas.

In the UK we think education is important -- so we have a ministry for education. We think health and the environment are important -- so we have ministries for them. If we think peace is important, shouldn't we have a Ministry for Peace? A part of government dedicated to pursuing and promoting peace?

But what exactly would a Ministry for Peace do? Because isn't “peace” a woolly concept that can mean almost anything?

For many peace workers,though, its meaning is clear. To work…

3 March 2006Comment

Working on the solid nonviolent principle that we should transform our enemies, PN brings you a slightly tongue-in-cheek column dedicated to getting to know our "enemies" better.

Readers - we have a tough one this issue, but I know you're all up to the task... The man we love to hate, the man we need to love to love... is that famous man of straw, the Rt Hon Jack (John Whitaker) Straw.

He was born on 3 August 1946 at Buckhurst Hill, Essex, and found his political voice early on. Lesser trots scattered as he shot to the top - becoming NUS president in 1969. He was called to the bar and briefly practised as a barrister, but soon he heard a higher calling, to…

3 February 2006Comment

There is strong public demand for debate about the future of Britain's nuclear weapons system, to which the government has recently appeared to acquiesce. But there are serious problems about the way in which it is trying to frame the debate.

The recent Greenpeace-commissioned MORI poll results show a popular preference for non-replacement, particularly when it is made clear how much taxpayers' money is actually spent on these weapons of mass destruction and what could be bought…

3 September 2005Comment

Robin Cook's death has brought forth many tales, and the peace movement has some to tell about him too. For instance, he first entered parliament at the time the Campaign Against Arms Trade was founded in 1974, and showed that he was clearly starting out with a properly disrespectful attitude to the place. When the then CAAT staffer tried to contact likely MPs to generate some interest in the new campaign, the first response was Robin Cook's - maybe the CAAT archives still have the…

3 July 2005Comment

There was a Parisian campaign to say “non” to the Olympics - which, surprisingly, got no coverage over here - as well as the (slightly reported) campaign by sensible people in London who oppose this corporate-promoting festival of nationalism and trib

3 June 2005Comment

Working on the solid nonviolent principle that we should transform our enemies, PN brings you a slightly tongue-in-cheek column dedicated to getting to know our "enemies" better.

Hello my lovely ones, are you feeling full of vernal passion?

I hope so, cos this month's target for all your cupid's arrows is Dr John Reid. Bless `im. He's our beloved new defence secretary.

He knows a rogue elephant [shurely “element” ed?] when he sees one. They were in the intelligence services, briefing against Government in the “Iraq weapons row” apparently. As health secretary he was “a man on a mission”, although he is said to have greeted news of that appointment with…

3 June 2005Comment

The Labour government may have received a good “telling off” at the polls last month but, even with their much-reduced parliamentary majority, they have wasted no time in setting out a controversial agenda for this term.

Through the Queen's Speech and the unseemly haste with which non-elected advisers - such as Andrew Adonis - were pushed through the back door into positions of influence, no-one can be in doubt about the authoritarian course this government has chosen.

The…