Ground the Drones - Channel 4 News - 27 April 2013

GROUND THE DRONES - Waddington - 27 April 2013

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group travelled to Lincolnshire on Saturday (27 April 2013) to join the national demonstration against the growing use of military drones which are causing civilian casualties in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Gaza and elsewhere. The demonstration at RAF Waddington, near Lincoln was called by War on Want, the Stop the War Coalition and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

 The Ministry of Defence had earlier admitted for the first time that armed drones have been operated remotely from RAF Waddington and used in attacks in Afghanistan (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/25/uk-controlling-drones-afghanistan-britain ).

On 6 April 2013, in a single incident, a drone attack ended up in killing 18 people including at least 10 children in the Shigal district of Afghanistan (http://www.asiantribune.com/node/62242 ).

On behalf of Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group, Philip Gilligan said,

“It was very important for Rochdale to be represented at this demonstration. We were pleased to join fellow campaigners from throughout Greater Manchester and other parts of the country. We all travelled to Lincoln to make our voices heard against these unacceptable weapons. The killing of civilians by weapons controlled from an air-conditioned bunker in the East of England is not ‘collateral damage’ in a ‘game’ played on a computer screen. Each death and injury is a murderous war crime.

Over the past four years, the USA has launched hundreds of drone strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya. Drones have killed thousands of people, including hundreds of children. They are indiscriminate killers. Drones make the world a much more dangerous place.

In our own country, the government’s willingness to use drones has grown rapidly in recent years without any public consultation or debate. This spring they will double the number of Reaper drones in Afghanistan and begin operating them from Waddington where we have been protesting today.

Drones are killing civilians who play no part in war. They are violating human rights and increasing the risk of conflict. We need to bring their use under control.”

See also http://www.channel4.com/news/drones-protest-at-raf-base-over-behind-our-backs-war

WE ARE ALL DOWNWIND OF A NUCLEAR POWER STATION

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group marked the 27th anniversary of the nuclear catastrophe at Chernobyl on Friday (26 April 2013) by calling on local MPs to support the decommissioning of all existing nuclear power stations and an end to plans to build new nuclear plants. They displayed poster and distributed leaflets reminding shoppers that "WE ARE ALL DOWNWIND OF A NUCLEAR POWER STATION".

On behalf of the peace group, Pat Sanchez said,

“The explosion and fire at Chernobyl released vast quantities of radioactive particles which spread all over Europe including the United Kingdom and Rochdale, but Chernobyl is only one of many disasters which have threatened all our futures. Like Chernobyl, the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi in March 2011 was also classified by the International Nuclear Event Scale as a highly dangerous level 7 event.

In Rochdale, we are very vulnerable to the existing nuclear power stations at Heysham and at Sellafield where there have been successions of accidents, fires and closures which threaten our safety.

Nuclear power is dangerous, expensive, unnecessary, damaging to health and closely linked to nuclear weapons proliferation. An accident or terrorist attack at a nuclear power station could leave large parts of Britain uninhabitable for hundreds of years, but even without an accident, routine releases from nuclear plants lead to rises in childhood leukaemia. New nuclear plants would create vast amounts of nuclear waste for which there is no agreed safe storage solution.”  

SCRAP TRIDENT - GLASGOW 13 April 2013

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group joined a Scrap Trident rally in Glasgow on Saturday (13 April 2013) calling for removal of nuclear weapons from the Faslane submarine base in Scotland, from all countries of the United Kingdom and from the world.

Standing beside a statue of Sir Walter Scott in St George's Square, they heard Scottish trade unionists emphasise that ongoing funding on the Trident project is a waste of public money especially in times of harsh cuts to spending in all areas of the public sector, while convener of the Church of Scotland's church and society council, sent a message asking whether a world burdened with the scourge of nuclear weapons is a place we want to live in and leave behind? (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-22134802 )

Philip Gilligan on behalf of the Peace Group said:

"Sally Foster-Fulton reminded us that nuclear weapons are a profound evil and their potential for irretrievable harm is immense.  She and other Scots are demanding a nuclear free future, but this is not just a Scottish issue. Scrapping the Trident nuclear weapons system is just as important to Rochdale and to England as it is north of the border. Trident is an expensive and dangerous menace which we cannot afford. It is utter madness that the government continues to spend more than £2 billion every year on these evil weapons and even crazier that it is planning to squander another £100 billion on their successors. It is unforgivable that Cameron and Clegg are doing this at the same time as they are cutting services for the disabled and punishing people for having an extra bedroom. Our taxes should be funding human needs, not being wasted the means of humanity's destruction. It is time to scrap Trident."