Exeter CND

The Peace Tree is in full blossom right now. This Japanese cherry tree was planted to mark the signing of the Mayors for Peace declaration for a nuclear-free world by the lord mayor of Exeter in 2005 after lobbying from Exeter CND. You can find it in Southernhay (central Exeter) near the entrance to the multistorey car park

*Setting the Record Straight on White Poppies*

It's that time of year again... In the run up to Remembrance Day, the white poppy sometimes comes under attack from military figures, some politicians and certain sections of the media.

This week a comment piece in The Telegraph accused white poppy wearers of being 'morally bankrupt' and 'hijacking' remembrance - among other inaccuracies. Here you can read the letters we sent to The Telegraph in response.
https://www.ppu.org.uk/news/setting-record-straight-white-poppies

🚨LEGAL OPINION: UK nuke jets break international law! 🚨

A legal opinion sought by CND has found that Britain's purchase of nuclear-capable F-35A fighter jets violates its commitments under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty!

In the joint opinion international law experts Professor Christine Chinkin and Dr Louise Arimatsu lay out a case that Britain’s decision to purchase F-35As puts Britain in clear breach of its obligations under article VI of the NPT:

“[t]he decision of the UK to purchase F-35a fighter jets rather than any other model is precisely because the aircraft can ‘deliver both conventional and nuclear weapons’ and thereby enable the RAF to reacquire ‘a nuclear role for the first time since 1998.’ Reinstating a nuclear role for the RAF represents a reversal of the UK’s long-term commitment to nuclear disarmament, including under the NPT.”

✊TAKE ACTION TODAY and help CND !

🖋️ TAKE 2 MINUTES to use our lobby tool to write your MP, asking them to call a parliamentary debate and challenge this dangerous decision: https://cnd.eaction.org.uk/StopBritainsNukeExpansion

☮️ Press release and link to full legal opinion: https://cnduk.org/legal-opinion-finds-britains-nuclear-expansion-breaches-nuclear-non-proliferation-treaty/

Global spending on nuclear weapons breaks $100bn mark - Geneva Solutions Ratcheting geopolitical tensions drove up nuclear spending by all nine of the world’s nuclear nations in 2024, with the United States leading the way.

Nuclear weapons are inhumane, indiscriminate, and illegal under the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of . They risk ending civilization, draining $100B/year from human needs.

Abolish them, before history repeats.

At 11.02am on 9 August 1945, the US detonated a nuclear bomb on the city of Nagasaki. This dreadful act would kill over 70,000 people. 80 years on, we remember the victims and vow to never let such an atrocity happen again.

Find a Nagasaki Day event near you: https://cnduk.org/events/no-more-hiroshimas-2025-events/

On this day, 6 August 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, slaughtering tens of thousands of civilians, despite many military and government officials believing it was unnecessary. Numerous senior US military officers confirmed that the bombing was not needed to defeat Japan, and indeed that Japan was attempting to surrender.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower explained: "Japan was at the moment seeking some way to surrender with minimum loss of 'face'. It wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing." Admiral William D. Leahy, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated "that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender. My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was taught not to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children."
And the US Strategic Bombing Survey determined that "Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated."
Elements within the Japanese government had been attempting to arrange a surrender, while maintaining the institution of the emperor, which possessed important religious significance. The US, meanwhile, was insisting on an unconditional surrender, but even though this was the only supposed barrier to peace, the US allowed Japan to maintain the emperor after the surrender anyway.
Faced with criticism of the mass-killing of civilians, some US officials concocted a narrative that the bombs were used to avoid a land invasion of Japan, which would have cost more lives. However, this story was only fabricated in 1947, after the war had already ended.
More likely was that the US wanted to send a strong message to Russia before the cold war began.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10593/u.s.-drops-atomic-bomb-on-hiroshima

We're back with our regular stall in Exeter's Belmont Park at the Exeter Respect Festival - our city's unique celebration of diversity and the wonderful multicultural population here (28th year of the event!) Quite rainy yesterday but lovely and sunny today

Exeter CND stall at Respect Festival this weekend - please come and help! - https://mailchi.mp/1a82a472a53c/exetercnd-exeter-respect2025