50 years on, still campaigning for peace

Posted by bex — 2 April 2008 at 12:23pm - Comments

Linking hands to surround the base

Thousands joined hands to surround Aldermaston base on Easter Monday

On the Easter weekend of 1958 - a few weeks after the birth of CND - thousands of people braved the icy weather and marched from London to the nuclear weapons factory at Aldermaston in Berkshire to protest the building of nuclear bombs. The march marked the birth of the peace movement in Britain.

Sadly, 50 years on, the peace movement is needed as much as it ever was; last year, our government (which counts many former CND members among its numbers) voted to replace Trident, and to lock the world into at least another 50 years of nuclear bombs. Despite the rhetoric of Brown's recent national security strategy (he wants "to free the world from nuclear weapons", apparently), £5 billion is being poured into building new facilities at Aldermaston to design new nuclear bombs - most likely in contravention of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Thousands joined the march

But the opposition to Trident is as strong as ever and, once again, thousands of people braved the hail, sleet, snow and rain (and even the odd bit of sunshine) to come to Aldermaston last Monday.

There were bands, theatre groups, speakers (including moving testimonies from a Hiroshima survivor), and even a giant inflatable bomb with a £76 billion price tag attached. And the Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp was still there, continuing its 22 year peace protest at Aldermaston despite reports to the contrary. At 2pm, around 5000 people surrounded the base and linked hands to say no to a new nuclear age.

But the highlight of the day for me was a humbling meeting with peace campaigner and 102-year old Hetty Bower. When I asked her, standing in the sleet, why she felt it was so important to be there, she said:

"I can't see well, I can't hear well, but my legs can still carry me, and I think the most important thing is peace in the world."

(You'll be able to hear the full interview when we publish the first of our regular series of podcasts later this week.)

If Hetty Bower isn't disillusioned by decades of campaigning for peace, nor should we be. We can end the nuclear age and make sure that, in 50 years' time, our children and grand children don't have to march to Aldermaston to listen to different survivors of nuclear attacks give their own testimonies. We're pushing for a global ban on new nuclear weapons (now on the table at the UN). The CND website has plenty of ways for you to get involved.

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