Tag: nuclear weapons

Hear Us! Youth members ask Synod to keep in mind their hopes and fears as decisions are made

⭐️ Young people’s hopes and fears featured prominently at the Scottish Episcopal Church‘s General Synod on Thursday.

🌍 Phoebe Pryce, Edinburgh Diocese Youth and Children‘s 18-25 Rep, and Chair of the Scottish Episcopal Church – Provincial Youth Committee (PYC), was among several young people to address the Church’s key annual conference.

🌐 Leading the PYC segment, Phoebe championed the views of young people in the SEC nationwide around the need to protect women’s rights, the pressures of the cost-of-living crisis, nuclear disarmament, and global equality, justice and peace.

Phoebe Pryce, Chair of the PYC, told members: “We are not a group which tends to bring motions or debates to General Synod, but we do have ideas and opinions on things that you as General Synod make decisions about.

“We are still here to share our experiences and tell our stories, but we are also here today to share our thoughts and our opinions on some of the topics you are discussing later in the agenda.

“We hope that through being here today, you can gather from us where our views lie on these issues, and that you will bear them in mind as you go forward in the next few days.”

Ms Pryce then told the story of Lucy, a 12-18 representative from the Diocese of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane, ahead of Motion 14 on nuclear weapons.

Her opinion echoes the views of youth representatives that nuclear weapons are “highly dangerous and immoral, having the capacity to kill millions if they were ever used, potentially without solving underlying issues”.

Ms Pryce said: “Lucy’s question to you is this: ‘Why is there such investment in the building and maintenance of unethical and illegal weapons when that same money could be invested in other projects and make a real and positive difference to people’s lives?’

“Lucy voices the views of the whole PYC in encouraging you to take a decisive stance against nuclear weapons: we believe it would show that, as a community, the SEC is against the use of these incredibly destructive and immoral weapons.

“Whilst passing such a motion may not have an immediate effect upon our country’s nuclear programme, we think it’s important to show that we do not agree with the production, storage, and potential use of nuclear weapons in the UK, and across the world.

“Please consider this decision as one of human decency, morality and ethics, which reflect the Christian values of peace, compassion, and universal love that we strive to live by.”

Tony Delahoy: Things Remembered

COLD WAR CHALLENGES – AND A LIFELONG AMBITION

At this time (1950) a petition had been launched to collect signatures against the proliferatation of nuclear weapons. We in the union branch at the New Cross tram depot decided to set up a Peace Committee to collect signatures for the Stockholm Peace Appeal.

The Cold War was intensely pursued by the Western powers. Charlie CHaplin was thron out of America and Paul Robeson too.

We had a big meeting in Camberwell to support Paul Robeson, to which he sent a recorded message, but we were up against the full wight of an anti-communist media.

I even stood as one of three candidates for the Communist Party local elections in Debtford, as their proposals seemed at the time to best address the needs of ordinary working people. But this was at the time of the Yangtse incident, where the Chinese communists were fired on by a British warship and the McCarthy era in the United States was in full swing.

The Vauxhall Tram authorities gave permission for a stall to be set up for just one day in the garage – and we were successful in collecting over 900 signatures for the Stockholm Peace Appeal, which I delivered to their offices near Regent’s Park.

I would collect the Daily Worker newspaper before my shift and do leafletting after my shifts, early morning or late. The shifts were spaced such that it was impossible to go home in between shifts. They were long days away from home.

Over the seven years I was active in the Transport and General Workers Union we were always under pressure and the canteen was a hive of activity with the early morning sales of all kinds of newspapers. We had to prove we were selling all papers inside the garage and not just the Daily Worker – this we did from outside the garage!

Then we were banned from selling the paper when we had tram uniforms on. The attempts at control were relentless.

There were of course already some big improvements such as improved provision if social services and the formation of the National Health Service in 1948; it is hard today to imagine not having an NHS and having to pay to see a doctor.

I knew that improvements to the lives of ordinary working people would have to be fought for by ordinary people like me and the hundreds of thousands of people who were now finding ways of making progress through sound argument and political pressure.

This was the challenge of winning a better future for everyone and pursuing this has been my lifelong ambition.

Progress is never guaranteed and things are sometimes disappointing, but I have seen poverty, war and destructive chaos and I know that only through ordinary working people struggling together will the devastating evils of poverty and war be avoided in the future.

Letters: The madness of nuclear weapons

Dear Editor

When the Americans dropped atomic bombs on Japan in 1945, wiping out cities and thousands and thousands of people in an instant, mankind had reached the possibility of self destruction worldwide.

So far the peoples of the world have managed to restrain the madmen who still advocate the use of nuclear weapons.

These madmen, – for that is what they are – appear quite often on television supporting their use, but going further in advocating their first use.

How and why are they given the opportunity to promote such terrible actions? They really are totally mad.

Just think about it: what are they calling for? Are they really saying it will be in our and others best interests to decimate each other in the most horrible way?

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

Remembering Hiroshima

‘We must always pray for the lost souls, always remember and always commit to peace and an end to nuclear weapons – I pray, I remember, I commit.’ – Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop’s message in the Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall book of remembrance

atomic-bomb

Seventy years ago today, an American B29 Superfortress bomber called Enola Gay dropped the world’s first atomic bomb – with the innocent sounding name of ‘Little Boy’ -on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

This was followed three days later by the dropping of another nuclear bomb – ‘Fat Man’ – on Nagasaki. The bombs caused devastation on an unimaginable scale: at the epicemtre, five square miles of Hiroshima simply ceased to exist, flattened. Up to 120,000 people were killed in the attacks and many more suffered horrific injuries, disabilities and long, lingering deaths through radiation sickness. The nuclear bombs brought World War Two to a swift conclusion – but their unleashing changed the world we live in forever.

Today, the world will remember those cataclysmic events.

Events planned in Edinburgh include:

Today, 12 noon:  Floating paper lanterns on the pond outside the Scottish Parliament. Organised by Edinbugh CND. Contact  edinburghCND@yahoo.com

This evening, 6-7 pm: Vigil at the Mound/Princes Street. Organised by Edinbugh CND. Contact  edinburghCND@yahoo.com

This evening, 6 pm: Launch of WMD Awareness Project exhibition, “Nuclear weapons in Popular Culture” Gayfield venue, Gayfield Square, with Bill Kidd MSP.

Saturday 8 August,  1-5pm: Support for an international Hiroshima-Nagasaki fast with singing from 1-2 pm.

nagasaki-bombing

The Scottish Government today reaffirmed its stance against nuclear weapons.

The Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop made the comments as the first of 22 events across Scotland to mark the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by atomic bombs begins today following her visit to Japan last month.

During her visit, The Cabinet Secretary visited the Nagasaki Peace Park, Atomic Bomb Museum and the Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall, to pay respect to the tens of thousands who died in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

At midday, Ms Hyslop will join others to scatter flower petals on the pond outside of the Scottish Parliament to mark the commemorations.

Ms Hyslop said: “Just over a month ago, I stood at the hypocentre of the explosion in Nagasaki. Even standing beside the physical scars, it is impossible to imagine the destructive power of a nuclear bomb. The shadows of men, women and even children marked the city, memories of ordinary innocent lives burnt into rock. Why anyone would consider this to be an appropriate response today is equally hard to imagine.

“My thoughts today are with the generations of Japanese people who have had to come to terms with the horrific effects of nuclear weapons. I admire greatly the compassion they have shown in moving forward. My visit to Nagasaki left me profoundly saddened and in no doubt about the horror of nuclear weapons.

“Scotland stands with Japan on the issue of nuclear disarmament. We oppose the continuation and the proposed renewal of the UK’s Trident nuclear weapon system, and the Scottish Government is firmly committed to worldwide disarmament. We strongly believe that the way forward is to create the conditions for peace through dialogue as well as action.

“The successor Trident system is estimated to cost a staggering £100 billion over its lifetime – money that could be far better spent on initiatives to support our people and our economy. As a nation, Scotland opposes nuclear weapons. Both the Scottish Parliament and the overwhelming majority of Scottish MPs are opposed to its replacement, it’s time the UK Government listened to what the people are saying.”

While in Nagasaki, Ms Hyslop spoke about Scotland’s stance on nuclear weapons to Susumu Satomi, Deputy Governor of Nagasaki Prefecture and Mr Taue Tomihisa, Mayor of Nagasaki. The Scottish Government has a shared vision with the national and regional governments’ of Japan for a world free of nuclear weapons.

The Scottish Government has made repeated calls for the UK Government to reconsider renewing the trident nuclear weapon system and is strongly opposed to the possession of nuclear weapon by any nation or nuclear weapons being stored in Scotland.