Report for October-November
November 30, 2009
You can now download my report for October-November 2009.
It covers the Queen’s Speech; housing; the UK public’s support for the war in Afghanistan; transport issues; speeches on Palestine, nuclear weapons, Latin America; meetings attended; and local events.
Speech at Le Mouvement de la Paix event in Caen.
October 18, 2009
Thank you very much for inviting me to speak to this very important peace conference here in Caen: a city that was almost totally destroyed in its central part during the bombing after the Normandy landings in 1944. It is therefore fitting that we should be discussing the threat of war in other parts of the world, in this city.
As a lifelong member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, I have witnessed the ups and downs of the peace movement over many years, and the way in which the arguments for peace and disarmament have changed.
Nuclear weapons were developed during the Second World War, and brutally used against the Japanese people in 1945. They then very quickly became instruments of the Cold War, as the USA, then the USSR, followed by France Britain and China (in that order) developed their own nuclear weapons.
As an instrument of the Cold War they were both terrifying, and very dangerous, but many of us refused to accept the “equality of terror” argument, and instead we campaigned for disarmament by building good relations on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
The astronomical cost in financial terms of nuclear weapons made severe demands upon the economies of many countries, particularly the USSR, helping to lead to its demise in 1990.
That should have been the point at which the continued existence of both the Warsaw Pact and NATO should have ceased, and the role of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe should have taken over. Instead, NATO caste around for a role for itself and has since attempted to develop into a strategic arm of both the European Union and of the United Nations.
We are now at a crucial time in the possibilities of world peace and of both nuclear and conventional disarmament. However, conversely, we are also at a time of the most perilous danger possible, following the war in Iraq and the current conflict in Afghanistan. The reasons promoted, particularly by George Bush and Tony Blair, focused on prosecuting the war on terror. This argument led to the occupation of Afghanistan and was later used for the excuse to invade Iraq. The cost has been huge: the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and an international division between the Western countries and the predominantly Islamic countries, which is having, and will continue to have catastrophic consequences for international relations for the rest of this century at least.
Next Saturday in London we are mounting a big march and demonstration against the war in Afghanistan, and demanding the troops be brought home. The British participation is becoming increasingly unpopular. President Obama was elected in large measure because of his opposition to the Iraq War and his approach to the economic problems facing the United States. Unfortunately, he has always supported the war in Afghanistan and as he now grapples with the decision to deploy 40,000 more troops, every day the whole conflict becomes more reminiscent of the Vietnam war of the 1960s and 70s.
At a time of recession, it is unconscionable to think in terms of continuing these wars, noting the enormous social, moral, political and financial costs associated with them. It is also equally immoral to even consider the development of a new generation of nuclear weapons. During the Cold War the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was agreed, placing conditions on the five declared nuclear weapons states to take steps towards disarmament and in return, all other signatories would refrain from developing nuclear weapons in any form, or causing other people to develop them on their behalf.
The NPT comes up for its quintennial review next year in May (in New York), and it is to be hoped that the 5 declared weapons states will announce some progress toward fulfilling their historical commitments.
In the case of the UK, we are campaigning very hard for the non replacement of the Trident Nuclear missile system and for taking the remaining three submarines off patrol, and for not approving expenditure on new warheads. It is calculated that a new generation of weapons will cost the British people 76 billion pounds over the next 25 years.
However, the NPT of itself cannot bring about disarmament. India and Pakistan have both developed nuclear weapons and despite protestations by the Western powers, have in fact received, in the case of Pakistan, a huge amount of military aid, and in the case of India is now receiving nuclear technology support by the United Stations which is virtually a reward for the development of nuclear weapons, in contravention of the principles of the NPT.
The Middle East is clearly a tinder box and at enormous risk, and whilst I do not support any country developing nuclear weapons, it is very clear that Israel’s possession of 200 nuclear warheads, together with the delivery system makes the possibility of a nuclear free zone in the Middle East very difficult, and makes it impossible to argue that no one else in the region should have nuclear weapons for their own self defense. In my view there must be the strongest possible pressure on Israel to decommission its nuclear weapons as part of the process towards a nuclear free Middle East. It is heartening that Iran has now agreed to International atomic energy authority inspections of all of its facilities and this is the most welcome sign we’ve had from the region in the recent past.
The NPT is important, but it is even more important that there be a UN sponsored Nuclear Weapons Convention that can insure that all nuclear weapon states meet together and begin a process of disarmament.
We are at a crossroads in history. The world has never been more technically advanced than it is at the present time, yet 1 in 6 of the world’s population are without sufficient food. In the case of the poorest people in the poorest countries, they are facing a shorter life expectancy as a result, and a grim future.
The recession is not a time to re-arm but it is a time for peace, disarmament, and it’s a time for conquering economic, environmental and health inequalities. That is the purpose of the peace movement.
Statement on Gordon Browns proposal for an Iraq War inquiry
June 15, 2009
At last the Prime Minister has come to parliament to announce there’s going to be an inquiry into the war in Iraq. However, the announcement is wholly inadequate and does not meet the demands and aspirations of the vast majority of the British people.
Half a million Iraqis have died. Many billions of pounds of taxpayer money has been spent on the war, and179 British soldiers have died.
To hold an inquiry of Privy Councillors, meeting in private to receive evidence and then report back to parliament after the next general election, is simply not an adequate response to this decision to go to war in Iraq.
In my view, any inquiry must take evidence in public, and must be the subject of national public debate. It must also include a specific remit on the legality of the war, and must delve very deeply into the decision making process, including all discussions between former Prime Minister Tony Blair and former President Bush, including all communication between them in the spring of 2002.
The war is not over for many people in Iraq, or for the families of those who have died, and all the millions around the world who objected to this adventure by Britain and the United States and who would demand something better than a secret investigation to answer to their questions.
Clean start
June 8, 2009
On 15 December, I was one of the speakers at the ‘Clean Start: Building a fairer global economy’ event organised by New Internationalist along with Susan George, Walden Bello, Ann Pettifor and John Hilary. You can find out more about the event or watch videos. Among the organisations represented were: Rainforest UK, UNICEF, London School of Economics, War on Want, Amnesty International, People and Planet and the World Development Movement.
Clean Start
January 1, 2009
On 15 December, 2008, I spoke at New Internationalist’s ‘Clean Start: Building a fairer global economy‘ event, along with Susan George, Walden Bello, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Ann Pettifor and John Hilary and others. The organisations represented included Rainforest UK, UNICEF, London School of Economics, War on Want, Amnesty International, People and Planet, and World Development Movement. The video is now online, and you can read more about the event.
Sri Lanka needs human rights monitors
January 17, 2008
Video of a speech in Parliament.
World Against War conference
December 1, 2007
Over 1,000 people attended the World Against War Conference in London’s Central Methodist Hall in London. Speakers included Tony Benn, the honorary president of the Stop the War coalition; Dennis Halliday and Hans von Sponeck, former UN humanitarian co-ordinators; Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan; Sami Ramadani, of Iraqi Democrats Against Occupation; and Hamdeen Sabahy, the leader of Egypt’s democracy movement.
United for Peace and Justice National Assembly
June 23, 2007
An interview with Phyllis Bennis of UFPJ.
Time to say ‘No’
March 16, 2007
On 14 March, Tony Blair won the vote on renewing Trident, Britain’s nuclear weapon system… with the support of the Conservatives. Later that evening, I joined some of the 88 Labour MPs who voted against the government, trades union representatives, civil society figures and thousands of protesters at the ‘Time to Say No’ rally organised by CND.
Defend freedom of religion
November 20, 2006
A video from the ‘Defend Freedom of Religion, Conscience and Thought’ rally organised by the British Muslim Initiative and Liberty, which seeks to protect civil liberties and promote human rights for everyone.
