Peace Archives - Page 3 of 10

Of Cairn Or Tree

Creative Writing, Environment 1 Response »

Jan 212016

By Tom Shepherd.

I‘m often at my best when I’m alone
A cairn or tree behind my back my throne
The sun to be my hearth and to my ears
Soft wind amongst the grass gathered courtiers.
.
It’s here I best hear both my mind and heart
To be myself, not play another’s part
Where racing thoughts can finally be stilled
And a desire of peace truly be filled.

Bird song the brightest natural fanfare
Breezes bring gifts of nature scented air
A changing tapestry of life is shown
Each day to me as I sit on my own.
.
But should the black dog herald gathering cloud
And silence alarm by growing ever loud
The arms of friends and of my family
Can shelter me more than could cairn or tree.

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MSP Speaks Of Solidarity At St. Andrew’s Day March

Aberdeen City, News No Responses »

Dec 032015

Christian speaking at the Aberdeen Trades Union Council St Andrew's Day parade

Christian Allard MSP speaking at the Aberdeen Trades Union Council St. Andrew’s Day March.

With thanks to Gavin Mowat, Constituency Assistant to Christian Allard MSP.

Christian Allard MSP has spoken of his thanks to the people of Aberdeen for showing solidarity with the people of France and the people of Syria at a St. Andrew’s Day march in Aberdeen.
Aberdeen Trades Union Council organised this year’s march which was themed “Refugees Welcome Here – No Racism”.

The French born MSP spoke of his wish to see more refugees coming to Scotland and suggested ways we can make newly arrived refugees feel welcome.

Speaking at the event, Mr Allard said:

“Here at the Castlegate, the French community living here with many our Scottish friends showed our solidarity with the people of Paris, the people of France. As an Immigrant from France, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who came and send us messages of solidarity, Merci.

“And here today again, we are assembled at the Castlegate to show our solidarity to the people of Syria.

“I would have been much happier if we were celebrating today the arrival of 10,000 of Syrian refugees to Scotland.

“To put this welcome in context, last year, Sweden, a country of 10 million people, took 80,000 refugees – the highest number per head of population in the European Union, and second only in number to Germany.

The SNP MSP added that he could think of two simple ways to make refugees welcome:

“First, watch our language – word choice matters. You may have heard and read from many of our media, particularly the BBC, calling refugees names, calling them migrants. Let’s be clear, from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, “the two terms have distinct and different meanings, and confusing them leads to problems for both populations”. Refugees are persons fleeing armed conflict or persecution.

“The second easy way to welcome refugees is to smile, just simply smile. We greet guests coming in our own house with a smile, let’s welcome refugees with the same smile in our streets, when Christmas shopping and in our communities.

“Let’s remember where we all come from because, in Scotland’s Story, we are all worth the same.”

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[Aberdeen Voice accepts and welcomes contributions from all sides/angles pertaining to any issue. Views and opinions expressed in any article are entirely those of the writer/contributor, and inclusion in our publication does not constitute support or endorsement of these by Aberdeen Voice as an organisation or any of its team members.]

Peace And Justice Concert To Celebrate One World Week

Aberdeen City, Articles, Gigs and Concerts No Responses »

Oct 082015

With thanks to Jonathan Russell.

A concert has organised for next Sunday by Aberdeen and District Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament to celebrate One World Week.
It will include peace songs and poetry, music from India, Scotland, Eastern Europe and Romania, as well as poetry and dance from Nepal. The concert will end with some Bob Dylan Anthems

One World Week aims to bring people together across the world in the cause of Peace and Justice. The event is dedicated to all people suffering injustice worldwide.

This will be a free event – Donations to Global Justice Now and CND.

The Programme will be compèred by David Kelly and Kathleen Watt.

Performances include:

Dave Davies and friends
Nigel Lammas and friends,
Fred and Charlie from Iron Broo (Eastern European Music),
Remas Stana – violin from Romania,
Rev Dr Isaac and Dr Amudha Poobalan (Indian music),
Prithwis Banerje (Indian vocals)
Kirsty Potts (Peace songs),
Imagine ensemble,
Gillian Siddons (poems by Hilda Meers),
Nabin Chhetri (Nepalese poetry),
Nepalese Dance,
Jigs Akimbo.

Finale: Keith Mesnier will perform three songs: Trident No More and the Bob Dylan anthems, ‘Masters of War’ and ‘The Times They Are A-changin’

For more info contact Jonathan via email: jhamiltonrussell@hotmail.co.uk or tel: 01224-586435

Peace And Justice Concert.
The Blue Lamp, Gallowgate
Sunday 18th October, 2pm-5.30pm.

Allard Seeks Clarity As Labour’s Trident Muddle Continues

Aberdeen City, Environment No Responses »

Oct 012015

Christian Allard MSP at an AGM for the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

With thanks to Gavin Mowat, Constituency Assistant to Christian Allard MSP

SNP MSP Christian Allard has written to regional Labour politicians seeking clarity on their position on Trident renewal – after a week in which Labour conference was ‘marred in confusion’ on the issue.

Despite previously giving assurances that Labour conference would have an open debate on Trident – and that Labour MPs would vote with the SNP on the issue – Jeremy Corbyn has since shied away from debating Trident, while his party’s Conference quietly voted to restate their position in favour of a “a minimum, credible, independent nuclear capability, delivered through a continuous at-sea deterrent.”

Labour MSPs in the North East have since come under pressure to clarify their own position – and whether they agree with their newly elected leader or with the decision of the party’s conference this week.

Commenting, Mr Allard said:

“Labour are absolutely all over the place on Trident – with Jeremy Corbyn promising one thing and their party conference voting to back precisely the opposite.

“It’s clear that Labour no longer has a coherent position on anything – and it’s time that Labour gave people the North East the clarity they deserve on their own position.

“The idea of spending £100bn on useless, immoral and wasteful weapons of mass destruction would be completely indefensible at any time – but at a time of austerity with reliance on foodbanks increasing and more and more people being pushed into poverty by Tory cuts, it’s nothing less than an outrage.

“Labour’s support for Trident renewal is yet more evidence that Labour are changing Corbyn, rather than Corbyn changing Labour. First he signs up to austerity – now the party sign up to Trident. It’s now time that they finally made clear where they stand on this issue.”

Jonathan Russell, Chair of Aberdeen and District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) added:

“Aberdeen and District CND strongly support both Jeremy Corbyn’s and the SNP’s stance on Trident. A major reason that Jeremy Corbyn received such massive support in the Labour leadership elections was for his long term support for the CND.

“We are greatly concerned about the stance presently being taken by some leading figures in the Labour Party and also for the misguided support for Trident by some Unions. By renewing Trident Britain would be going against the Nuclear-Non Proliferation treaty of which it is a signed up member.

“The Labour party at both UK and Scottish levels needs to have a democratic debate concerning Trident – it is not a decision which should be blocked by a few powerful individuals.”

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Duke of Rothesay, Cabrach Community Inaugurate Cairn

Aberdeenshire, News No Responses »

Aug 282015

The Duke of Rothesay attended a ceremony on Sunday in the Lower Cabrach, one of Scotland’s most remote communities. He had come to lay a wreath at newly-constructed memorial cairn. Suzanne Kelly attended.

The Cabrach is perhaps best known for its dramatic, beautiful scenery and for being the home of whisky.

The Gordon family residence is here in the sparsely-populated area, home to generations of Scotland’s first family of whisky.

The Cabrach cairn, in the Lower Cabrach area, is a new, beautiful dry stone monument to those from the area who fell not only in World War I, but in all subsequent conflicts.

Until recent research revealed the truth, it was thought that the number of those from the Cabrach who fell in the Great War was far less than one hundred. The truth emerged that perhaps some 300 lives were lost.

This was mainly to illness. When the recruits left the area to go to war, they had little in the way of natural immunity, and many were tragically killed by disease.

Prince Charles – the Duke of Rothesay as he is known in Scotland – laid a wreath and talked to an assembly of residents. This wreath was red poppies with three white feathers with a card which read:

“In special memory of those from the Cabrach, and the parishes of Rhynie, Lumsden and Dufftown who lost their lives during the First World War. Charles”

One of those present was John Gordon. As a young man of 16 in World War II, he was kept in the area to do essential agricultural work and to serve on the Home Guard. He told Aberdeen Voice:

“I joined the Home Guard; I got my medal about 10 year ago. This medal is the Royal Observer Corps. I was in and saw the bombing that happened in Aberdeen. The Germans flew over here too; they dropped a bomb on the Upper Cabrach. Aye, they put a bomb up there in the Upper Cabrach.”

After the Duke left, a second ceremony was held for the entire community with music and the Lonach Pipe Band and a huge spread of food. Photographs of the cairn in progress over the months adorned the community centre walls.

Marc Ellington spearheaded the project; funding for which mainly came from the Gordon family.

Ellington said:

“Each and every aspect of the construction of the cairn has involved members, both young and old, of the Cabrach Community working closely with master craftsman Euan Thompson, a specialist in traditional dry stone construction.

“As well as being one of the finest memorial cairns to be built in Scotland in recent years, this is an outstanding example of what a local community, working together with energy and determination, can achieve.”

Both Ellington and community leader Patti Nelson gave speeches and thanked everyone who assisted and who attended. Marc was assisted on the day by Gemma Louise Cook.

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CND Discuss Concerns Over Safety Of Trident

Aberdeen City, Environment No Responses »

Aug 072015

With thanks to Jonathan Russell.

Concerns raised regarding “the ‘scary’ shortage of personnel to work on the Trident missile system.”

Aberdeen and District CND are to host a public meeting on Monday 10th August. Speaker, John Ainslie (Coordinator, Scottish CND) will focus on ‘The Trident Whistle Blower and the Safety of British
Submarines.

On 17 May this year the Sunday Herald published serious allegations of safety and security weaknesses on Britain’s Trident submarines.

The article was based on an 18page report from Able Seaman William McNeilly.

McNeilly was training to be a missile technician on a Trident submarine and had been on board HMS Victorious throughout its patrol from January to April 2015. He said:

“the Trident programme is a disaster waiting to happen”

John Ainslie, Coordinator of Scottish CND has stated:

“McNeilly’s report should not be dismissed as the ill-informed views of a junior sailor. One of his main concerns was the ‘scary’ shortage of personnel to work on the Trident missile system. Official reports show that there is a 25% shortfall in this area and that the lack of suitable people is the greatest risk to the safety of the defence nuclear programme.”

John Ainslie has produced a report on these and other safety concerns entitled. Substandard ‘The Trident Whistle Blower and the safety of British Submarines’.

McNeilly’s report brings together descriptions of what he saw on board HMS Victorious and accounts that he heard of incidents and problems on other nuclear submarines. He outlines safety concerns, defects, security breaches and careless practice.

Official reports show that the Navy does not have enough Suitably Qualified and Experienced submariners to operate the Trident missile system or the reactors on nuclear submarines and that the greatest risk to the safety of the Defence Nuclear Programme comes from a shortage of personnel.

An overemphasis on operational requirements, at the expense of safety, has contributed to a number of submarine incidents in recent years.

The Trident missile was designed in a way that introduces a greater risk than other types of nuclear missile. Between 2009 and 2012 fires on British nuclear submarines took place at a rate of around one every six weeks. Problems identified on a fire on one submarine in 2004 were repeated in a subsequent fire two and a half years later.

There are 13 known collisions involving British nuclear submarines and 11 incidents when submarines have run aground. There have been three major generic defects with the reactor designs on British nuclear submarines. These were discovered in 1989, 2000 and 2012. There is an unacceptable risk of a terrorist attack on a Trident submarine in the Faslane shiplift and there have been instances of sabotage on submarines in service with other navies.

The reactors on British submarines are much less reliable than those on American submarines. This means that there is a significant risk that a submarine could go into an uncontrolled dive.

The Trident Whistle Blower and the Safety of British Submarines.

Public meeting organised by Aberdeen and District CND.
Monday 10th August at 7.30pm
Unite the Union
42-44 King Street.

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Hiroshima/Nagasaki Memorial Day – Thurs 6th Aug 2015

Aberdeen City, Environment, Featured No Responses »

Jul 302015

With Thanks to Jonathan Russell and Aberdeen CND.

Thursday 6th August sees the 70th anniversary of the first ever explosion of a nuclear weapon when the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This was followed on the 9th August by the detonation of a further nuclear bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.

Aberdeen and District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) have organised an event to mark the occasion and remind people of the potential horror of the use of nuclear weapons.

200 peace lanterns will be released onto the river Dee to commemorate the 200,000 men, women and children who died following the nuclear explosions at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many more died later from injuries or prematurely from the horrendous health effects that followed.

We are delighted to have Yu Aoki who lives and works in Aberdeen but who was born in Hiroshima as one of our speakers. Yu Aoki has said

“I grew up listening to the stories of my grandparents and other atomic bomb survivors about their experiences of the 6th August 1945. Many survivors have passed away by now and. I feel that people from the younger generation like myself have to pass on the stories to the next generation so that we learn from the history and never repeat it again as there still are a large number of survivors”

We will have songs from local singers Dave Davies and Kirsty Potts as well as poems by the recently deceased local poet and peace activist, Hilda Meers, which will be read by Tommy Campbell from Unite the Union.

We also have a wide variety of Speakers from Civic, Faith and Community Action Groups.

The memorial event which is open to all the public to attend will take place on Thursday 6th August at 8.30pm by the side of the River Dee at the Fisherman’s hut off Riverside Drive (between the Bridge of Dee and Duthie Park)

Jonathan Russell, Chair of Aberdeen and District CND, stated

“For most of us nuclear weapons have been a part of the world we live in for all of our lives. We can as such often put into the back of our minds just how horrific these weapons would be if used.

“The Independence Referendum has highlighted the fact that the UK’s nuclear weapons are based in Scotland and the United Kingdom Government are intent on building a new generation of atomic weapons at a cost of £20 billion. As a result of the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty and the New Start treaty of December 2010 nearly 50% of these monstrous weapons have been destroyed.

“There are still, however, 19,500 nuclear weapons in the world – enough to destroy our world several times over. Building new atomic weapon systems such as the UK’s Trident replacement diminishes the likelihood of getting rid of the remaining weapons.”

For further information please contact:

Jonathan Russell, Chair of Aberdeen and District CND
Tel: 01224- 586435;
mobile: 0758-245-6233
e-mail: jhamiltonrussell@hotmail.co.uk

Date: Thursday 6th August 2015, at 8.30pm
Venue: the Fisherman’s Hut on the River Dee
(by Riverside Drive )

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SNP Strategy On Trident: CND Host Public Meeting

Aberdeen City, Information No Responses »

Jul 162015

Aberdeen and District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament will be hosting a debate entitled ‘The SNP strategy on Trident at Westminster and how the local CND group can support this’. With thanks to Jonathan Russell.

Jonathan Russell Chair of Aberdeen and District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament stated ‘that given the SNP’s large numbers at Westminster and their strong commitment to oppose replacing Trident we consider it important that all those opposed to Trident get involved with our elected representatives in working out the best strategies to stop any decision taking place at Westminster in 2016 to replace Trident.’

Speaker: Stuart Donaldson, MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine

Meeting to take place at 7.30pm on Friday 24th July at Unite the Union 42-44 King Street Aberdeen

All Welcome.

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Next Steps For Scottish CND – Meeting 09.02.15

Aberdeen City, Articles No Responses »

Feb 052015

With thanks to Jonathan Russell.

SNP MSP Wants Westminster To Rethink Trident

Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Opinion No Responses »

Jan 232015

Members of the SNP CND conference in Glasgow

With thanks to Gavin Mowat and Paul Robertson.

North East MSP Christian Allard renewed calls to scrap Trident during a speech at the SNP Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) conference at the weekend. Mr Allard took the opportunity to urge SNP members to work more closely with local CND groups to get more SNP MPs elected so “we can get rid of Trident”.

His comments come as a Survation poll found that 59.9 per cent of Scots want nuclear weapons removed from the Scottish waters.

As a member of Aberdeen and District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Mr Allard has taken part in many events in the North East calling for the removal of weapons of mass destruction from Scottish waters and he urged new members to do the same.

The North East MSP spoke of how many SNP members signed up to the CND at the Music Hall in Aberdeen during First Minister Nicola sturgeon’s stadium tour.

Commenting, Christian Allard said:

“With membership now standing at more than 93,000 the SNP is the strongest vehicle for progressive change in UK politics.

“When Nicola came to the Music Hall in Aberdeen I saw many SNP members signing up to the CND – I hope these members become active in the Aberdeen and District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, adding to the strong local voice against weapons of mass destruction.

“The General Election in May represents a fantastic opportunity for a large group of SNP MPs to force Westminster to rethink its policy on Trident.”

A House of Commons debate today [Tuesday 20] – called by the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party – offers an opportunity for MPs of all parties and from all parts of the UK to oppose spending £100bn on a new generation of nuclear weapons at a time of continued austerity.

Commenting on the news that Labour would ‘boycott’ the debate on Trident renewal at Westminster, Mr Allard said:

“Labour are clearly hiding from this debate because they find themselves in an untenable position.

“They simply cannot defend spending £100bn on weapons of mass destruction while backing £30bn of more austerity cuts.”

MP for Banff and Buchan, Dr Eilidh Whiteford added:

‘’It is absolutely indefensible and morally repugnant to waste £100bn on weapons of mass destruction whilst food bank use is rocketing, and more and more children are being pushed into poverty. I voted to oppose nuclear weapons in Parliament this week so that we can better spend these colossal sums of money on making a positive difference to our society.”

“It is a sad indictment of what the Scottish Labour party has become that they voted to support the renewal of Trident – only a week after they voted to push through more Tory cuts.”

“With a strong team of SNP MPs after the General Election, Scotland can hold the balance of power and can force Westminster to abandon this disastrous commitment – and ensure these immoral weapons are removed from Scotland for good.”

Note: The SNP CND conference was held on Saturday 17 January at the Boyd Orr Building at Glasgow University. For more on the Survation poll: http://www.snp.org/media-centre/news/2015/jan/majority-support-snps-anti-trident-call

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