 Demonstrate against US Missile Defence at RAF Fylingdales, Sat 11th October
Speakers including Ivona Novomestska of the Czech No Bases movement. Details here.
Join the Aldermaston Big Blockade 27th October
Non-violent blockade to disrupt work on Trident warheads and their successors. Read more.
Support action against Missile Defence
Use our model letter and email tool to lobby your MEP for a European Parliament debate on the US plans.
Petition: No to Trident Replacement – Yes to a Nuclear Weapons Convention
Sign online or download a printable petition.
Lobby your MP to sign two motions
'Parliament and decisions over US Missile Defence' and 'Nuclear Weapons Convention'. Visit our Parliamentary page for model letters.
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Home
 The conflict in Georgia highlights the threat to peace posed by the rapid expansion of NATO into Eastern Europe and beyond. NATO was a Cold War institution which should have been wound up when the Warsaw Pact was dissolved in 1991. Having lost its rationale, it has sought instead to reinvent itself as a forum for military action by ‘the international community’. In reality it has become a vehicle for US-led use of force, bypassing the United Nations.
NATO’s ongoing expansion into former Soviet republics, and its ‘out of area operations’, are helping make the world a more dangerous place. NATO is a nuclear-armed alliance with a nuclear ‘first strike’ policy. Britain's own nucear weapons are assigned to NATO, and each advance of the NATO border increases the possibility of military involvement in other countries' local disputes. Recent events in the Caucasus are a clear indication of the dangers. The rapid increase in tension and the involvement of military forces in a regional dispute show the great risk of a sudden and catastrophic spread of war.
New: Read the CND briefing on NATO and its ongoing expansion through Europe.
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Missile Defence - a destabilising provocation |
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 The recent agreement to place US Missile Defence interceptor missiles in Poland is a destabilising move that will have profound effects for years to come. Missile Defence is widely understood to allow the US to attack other countries without fear of retaliation. The US system, which will also include a new radar base in the Czech Republic and two bases in Britain, puts the citizens of these countries on the front line in future US wars.
The positioning of US missiles less than 120 miles from the nearest Russian territory has brought a strong response from Moscow, which feels itself to be the target of the US system. At this time of increased international tension over Georgia, the addition of more US military systems to Eastern Europe is highly provocative.
Despite strong opposition amongst the Czech public, their government has agreed to host a US radar station, but public pressure may still scupper the deal. The treaty must be ratified by the Czech Parliament which is evenly split on the issue. The opposition of 70% of the public may yet prevent its passage in October, but if it goes ahead the destabilisation and damage to international relations will be enormous.
We ask that you write to your MEPs to express your opposition and
demand a plenary debate in the European Parliament on the role of US
Missile Defence in Europe. Click here to email your MEPs.
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Secret plan to replace Trident warheads |
 Ministry of Defence documents obtained by CND reveal the Government plans to replace Britain’s nuclear warheads, despite Ministers repeatedly telling MPs that no decision would be taken until after the next election. The shocking revelation came to light in a private speech to arms industry executives by a senior defence official.
Whilst the Commons voted last year to replace the submarines that carry the UK’s nuclear warheads on Trident missiles, the revelation that officials have been secretly telling the arms industry that the warheads will be replaced suggests that Parliament has been misled.
Kate Hudson, Chair of CND, said: "Staffing at the Atomic Weapons Establishment has grown by a third in the last five years, with billions spent on new facilities, yet throughout this the Government has been telling MPs and the public that it would be years before any decision was needed. It is a disgrace that the MoD is secretly telling the defence industry one thing, whilst Ministers are saying quite the opposite to Parliament."
Click here to read the full story and see the MoD documents.
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Kate Hudson's blog
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Miliband's hollow rhetoric
Foreign Secretary David Miliband's address to
the Labour Party Conference was a great
disappointment, avoiding cruci ...
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