Petitioning and Planting for Peace

Supporters joined members of Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group in Littleborough on Saturday morning (31 October 2015), to sign the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament's petition calling for the Trident nuclear system to be scrapped and not replaced. People also paused to admire crocus and daffodil bulbs planted by the group in the shape of the CND symbol and collected leaflets encouraging them to join to join the forthcoming 'STOP TRIDENT' demonstration in London on 27 February 2016 and to become members of CND.

On behalf of the Peace Group, Philip Gilligan said:

"We are greatly encouraged by the groundswell of local and national opposition to the Trident nuclear weapons system. It is crucial that we let our politicians know our views and that we stop the government squandering ever more £billions on dangerous weapons of mass destruction. Trident threatens our very survival and drains enormous resources from the services we desperately need. In 2016, parliament will be voting on the question of so-called 'Trident Replacement' and, on 27 February, the Peace Group will be in London to tell the government loudly and clearly that we don't want the existing Trident system and we don't want any replacement system. Our bulbs will be in flower by the end of February. We shall take them with us to London as a symbol of peace. We trust that many people from Rochdale join us there."

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group Play a Full Part in CND Conference

Members of Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group played a prominent part in last weekend's national conference of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament held at the Arlington Conference Centre in London. Rae Street moved a resolution which called for an immediate end to NATO exercises and war games involving nuclear capable weaponry and in particular demands that the UK government refuses to deploy criuse missiles and nuclear capable aircaft on its territory,  while Pat Sanchez moved a resolution from Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group which highlighted "the extreme and unacceptable dangers posed by the risk of accidental launches of nuclear missiles, systems failures, accidental collisions and unsafe behaviour by members of submarine crews" such had been exposed by whistleblower submariner William McNeilly in his report 'Disaster Waiting to Happen’ (https://wikileaks.org/tridentsafety/).

Both resolutions were passed by the conference which involved CND members from across all parts of Britain.

Pat Sanchez said, "I was very pleased that the resolution from Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group passed unanimously. It is essential that we recognise both the immoral waste of public money involved in funding a nuclear weapons system and that we understand and expose the horrific consequences that would result for us all from any use of those nuclear weapons; whether intended or accidental."