News
75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Japan – events 7th to 9th August 2020
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- Published on Friday, 07 August 2020 13:27
We aim to gather and share photos and ideally videos (in length between 20 and 60 seconds) of events on the 6th August for compiling and sharing out again, probably starting at the SCND meeting on the 9th August. So please send us yours to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Scottish CND will host an online event at 7 p.m. on the 9th of August. The focus will be on what we must do now to make the witness of the Hibakusha count in the campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons. On Nagasaki Day it is time to move from remembering to action to ensure that nuclear weapons are abolished and eliminated. Join Bill Kidd MSP and SCND Chair Lynn Jamieson and be part of the way forward. Access by https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/815877733
Linking to internationals via ICAN. Please ensure that you sign the pledge at the special ICAN anniversary page, rise.icanw.org to honour the Hibakusha, and check out loads of ideas and resources there. In particular, the stories from survivors of the attacks and an ICAN anniversary exhibition which you can download for use in your own locality.
Check out local events here:
6th and 9th August 2020 - Good Days for Global Nuclear Disarmament
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- Published on Thursday, 06 August 2020 20:38
While the world reflected on the horror of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki there has been huge encouragement for the cause of disarmament as four new UN states, Ireland, Nigeria, Niue and St. Kitts and Nevis, have ratified or acceded to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
Ireland has been a champion of nuclear disarmament since the 60s and was a key player in the adoption of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Along with Austria, it has provided unwavering creative and imaginative advocacy for the TPNW throughout the last decade and its ratification of that Treaty has been long expected, as well as hugely significant. As a member of the EU it now stand in good counterbalance to the French attachment to weapons of mass destruction, as well as the occasional mutterings about the EU having its own nuclear weapons. Today's step forward by Ireland is also a boost for those who are working for the end of the treacherous business of “nuclear-sharing”, whereby the air forces of Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany are equipped with US nuclear weapons. Then there is the UK, a recalcitrant nuclear-armed state across the Irish Sea, and a little further north a Scottish government and people who reject nuclear weapons and support the TPNW - and who derive enormous encouragement from Ireland's assertive stance.
Ideas and Events on the 75th Anniversary of the Nuclear Attacks on Japan in 1945
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- Published on Friday, 24 July 2020 10:26
There will be intensive social media activity from next week onwards from across the world. Scottish CND, Scrap Trident and others will be adding a Scottish voice. Please share and repost if you can!
Here's a nice way to spread awareness of the anniversary. Scottish artist Stewart Bremner has drawn a 75th Anniversary frame for use on Facebook. To get it on your Facebook profile, click on your profile, click on update, click on Add Frame, in search put in "SCND 75 Hiroshima Nagasaki". Add it to your Twitter profile picture by visiting: https://twibbon.com/Support/remember-hiroshima-nagasaki
We aim to gather and share photos and ideally videos (in length between 20 and 60 seconds) of events on the 6th August for compiling and sharing out again, probably starting at the SCND meeting on the 9th August. So please send us yours to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Anniversary Actions
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- Published on Friday, 10 July 2020 15:08
The third anniversary of the United Nations adopting the Treaty on the Prohibiton of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was on Tuesday 7th July 2020, an obvious time to start commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the first nuclear attack, on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This may be the last significant anniversary where we can hear the living testimony of survivors (Hibakusha in Japanese). ICAN wants us to remember the Hibakusha and to act for the ban Treaty. The international campaign can share messages from Scotland round the world, and Scottish CND is planning an online action for us to share the different things happening in Scotland.
Please make sure we know what you will be doing whether it’s an action or a vigil, socially distanced or via zoom. There is a new frame, designed for us by Stewart Bremmer for the 75th anniversary with images of paper cranes. It can be added to your facebook page and twitter account which will alert everyone to the special anniversary, (click on your profile pic to add the Scottish CND Hiroshima frame).
Hiroshima and Nagasaki 75th anniversary posters are available from here: Poster 1, Poster 2, Poster 3.
You can also download the following resources from ICAN with ideas as well as pictures and exhibition materials and there is a new online pledge to sign too. Use it to start a conversation (and don’t forget to ask everyone to join Scottish CND)
Download '75th-anniversary-actions-for-cities.pdf' as a PDF
Download '75th-anniversary-actions-for-eif.pdf' as a PDF
Download '75th-anniversary-actions-for-financial-institutions.pdf' as a PDF
Download '75th-anniversary-campaigners.pdf' as a PDF
Also see our leaflets and publications available in the Scottish CND online shop.
Welcome for Key Nuclear Weapon Status Report
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- Published on Friday, 19 June 2020 12:44
Bill Kidd MSP, chair of the Parliament's Cross-Party Group on Nuclear Disarmament, has given a warm welcome to the publication by Scottish Scottish CND of the UK chapter of the Reaching Critical Will1 report “Assuring Destruction Forever.”
Bill said: "I welcome the publication and launch of 'Assuring Destruction Forever.' The UK Chapter of this study was edited and led by a respected friend and fellow disarmament practitioner- Janet Fenton. In this chapter, Fenton persuasively dismantles prevailing deterrence ideology and lays its contradictions bare. I highly recommend this report to those looking to develop an in-depth understanding of the UK's posture towards disarmament and why a new way forward must be embraced for the sake of strengthening our collective peace and security."
Janet Fenton's work covers the status of the UK's nuclear weapon system, and forms the UK chapter in the global report, which is a guide for diplomats and elected representatives worldwide on the activities of the nine nuclear armed states, with the upcoming Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty particularly in mind. The UK chapter builds directly on the highly regarded research conducted by the late John Ainslie, formerly Co-ordinator of Scottish CND.
Nuclear Free Scotland Spring/Summer 2020
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- Published on Friday, 12 June 2020 13:22
The latest edition of Nuclear Free Scotland will be exclusively launched online for all our members and supporters to read due to the ongoing pandemic and to ensure the safety of our postal service and staff team. This edition is packed with articles from the ICAN Paris Forum in February this year to the fantastic work that the young people at Glasgow University have been doing around the institution's financial support for the arms trade. We also reflect on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ahead of the 75th anniversary this summer. READ HERE: http://www.banthebomb.org/images/stories/images/magazine/NFSSS2020.pdf
We understanding being posted a physical copy of the magazine is vital to some of our members and supporters and we know that it is a great piece of material for introducing people to our campaign. We hope later in the year once we are in a safer position to get some copies printed for this purpose. If you would be interested in receiving a physical copy please get in touch ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ).
READ THE MAGAZINE: http://www.banthebomb.org/images/stories/images/magazine/NFSSS2020.pdf
Assuring Destruction Forever - Reaching Critical Will
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- Published on Wednesday, 10 June 2020 13:55
Reaching Critical Will are a partner organisation of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and they have just released an updated study exploring the ongoing and planned nuclear weapon modernisation programmes in China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Our vice-chair Janet Fenton wrote the UK Chapter for this report which you can read through this link.
As of early 2020, the nuclear-armed states are estimated to possess approximately 13,410 nuclear weapons, most of which are many times more powerful than the nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima. All the nuclear-armed states have plans to modernise—upgrade and/or extend the lives of—their nuclear weapons.
This report is an update of a study that Reaching Critical Will initiated in 2012. Each chapter of the Assuring destruction forever: 2020 edition has been prepared by experts on national nuclear weapon programmes. Each goes through the current status of nuclear weapon forces; modernisation programmes and plans; the costs of these programmes; the countries’ positions on international nuclear weapon law and policy; and public discourse related to nuclear weapons. You can read the full report through this link.