Thousands of people are getting ready for the Stop Trident march this weekend.
Popular support for the scrapping of Trident is building and over 9,000 people have said that they’ll be marching on Saturday. There’s an exciting line up of speakers including Jeremy Corbyn and Caroline Lucas, Vanessa Redgrave and Francesca Martinez.
CND has been organising several events in the build up to Saturday’s protest, including a Stop Trident rally and mobilising meeting; which I went to last week. The aim of the meeting was to build momentum a week ahead of the march and to debunk the myths around the need for nuclear weapons.
Speakers included Kate Hudson and Bruce Kent, who put to bed the misconceptions surrounding the renewal debate, including nuclear weapons being a requirement for membership of the UN Security Council and Trident being the answer to the threat of ISIS.
Lindsey German from Stop the War highlighted the hypocrisy of the government’s plans to renew Trident, whilst their own National Security Risk Assessment conducted at the end of last year concluded that there were no short term threats of nuclear attack.
“The idea of weapons is evacuated from the consequences of what those weapons are.”
– Lindsey German, Stop the War
Richard Norton-Taylor from the Guardian put pressure on the government to cut ties with nuclear weapons, at a time when figures such as Michael Portello as well as Norton-Taylor condemn the government’s labeling of Trident as an independent weapon. Nuclear weapons breed toxic relationships just as they create toxic consequences. Norton-Taylor added that together we can find courage to act on moral grounds and dispel the psychology of fear being incubated by the government.
Other speakers included Tariq Ali a leading left-wing broadcaster, Amelia Womack, Deputy Leader of the Green Party, Ellie Kinney from Youth Students CND and Peter Kennard, Artist.
The speakers emphasised war as a domestic issue and one that affects many areas of our lives. There was a big push to encourage people to join the march on Saturday whether by marching for the climate, health security, refugees or a different cause, as Trident poses a threat to all of them.
CND have put together a list of 10 things you can do before the march to help make the mobilisation even greater.
Join CAAT on the climate bloc on Saturday, and say yes to a just transition to a low-carbon economy and a shift from arms to renewables. We’re meeting at the Tea Hut by the Upper Brook Street Gate, Hyde Park from just before noon to join the main march at 12.
Militaristic vanity projects like Trident only benefit arms companies and divert resources from genuine security threats, such as climate change.
Together we can say No to Trident.
