60,000 March Against Trident in London

Nukewatch Quarterly Spring 2016

Over 60,000 people gathered in London February 27 for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament’s march and rally opposing the United Kingdom’s plans to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system. Platform speakers included MP Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party; Caroline Lucas, the only member of the Green party in the UK Parliament; Leanne Wood, the leader of Plaid Cymru, the Welsh National Party; and Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, which is opposed to Trident nuclear-armed submarines—some of which are based in a Scottish port. Representatives from a wide variety of faith groups and the trade union movement, student leaders, and celebrities including Vanessa Redgrave also spoke. Great cheers went up as Jeremy Corbyn called for a nuclear-free Britain in a nuclear-free world.

Nichola Shellard and her daughter Abigail Raby from Norden joined the crowd, taking part in their first demonstration. Shellard said, “This was a great day for us. Anyone who stops to think about it knows that Trident is a useless and dangerous waste of money and that nuclear weapons are an evil we need to get rid of, but too often we sit at home thinking there is nothing we can do about such things. Not today. The enormous turn-out proved that there are tens of thousands of ordinary people who are willing to get up early on a cold February morning to demonstrate against Britain having nuclear weapons of mass destruction which threaten all our futures with unimaginable levels of death and destruction. It also showed that we now have political leaders, like Jeremy Corbyn, who are genuinely committed to a peaceful and nuclear-free future. We need to support them wholeheartedly and to campaign actively for a future in which our country’s resources are spent on what we need not on a useless and evil nuclear weapon’s system. Today’s march and rally was a really positive experience for us. We are more determined than ever to campaign to stop Trident.”

—ASP

—Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group, Feb. 28, 2016