The Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) today welcomes the publication of a major new report by Med-act that focuses on the UK’s harmful reliance and dependence on maintaining nuclear weapons at a time when the large majority of UN members have formally called for a ban on such weapons. Med-act is a public health charity that inspires the medical community to act on the social, political, ecological and economic determinants of health. Like NFLA, it is a supporting member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). The Med-act report ‘A Safer World – Treating Britain’s harmful dependence on nuclear weapons’, calls to account the UK Government for its aggressive nuclear weapons policies and the continued funding of the Trident nuclear weapons programme.
NFLA 25th July 2017 read more »
TWO peace campaigners were released from prison in Scotland yesterday after an unexpected U-turn by prosecutors who dropped bail demands that they stay away from protests at nuclear bases. Angie Zelter, 66, and Brian Quail, 79, both members of the nuclear disarmament campaign group Trident Ploughshares, were arrested on July 13 during a protest outside the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport, where Trident nuclear warheads are stored. The pair returned to the justice of peace court — the Scottish equivalent of a magistrates’ court — in Dumbarton yesterday for an intermediate hearing on the charges they face. In a surprise move, the procurator fiscal (public prosecutor) withdrew the demand for the undertaking to stay away from the two bases and they were given bail. The pair headed straight to Faslane nuclear submarine base north-west of Glasgow for another protest after their release. Jane Tallents of Trident Ploughshares said: “Their principled action was to refuse to say they would not protest. “The procurator just dropped the insistence on the condition.
Morning Star 27th July 2017 read more »