GROOVY GIRL SIGNS UP FOR PEACE

A new wooden sculpture, in the style of a Totem Pole, has fetched up in Wigston's Peace Memorial Park. When Grace sees it on one of our frequent visits to the park, she says, "Oh cool; it's got the Groovy Girl sign on top!" Nice bit of brand appropriation - and there's the groovy girl herself.

CND'S BRUCE VISITS CITY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Bruce Kent, left, with supporters Rama Gupta, of Loughborough, and Liz Brandon, right

CND's Bruce visits city

Anti-nuclear weapons campaigner Bruce Kent called for Britain to ditch its submarine-based deterrent as part of a "scrap Trident missile tour".

Mr Kent said it was immoral to consider embarking on replacing the missiles when so many people across Britain were being hit by savage cuts in social welfare.

Speaking after a prayer meeting at the Bishop Street Methodist church, Mr Kent, who is vice-president of national CND, said: "It seems to me that we, as a country, are moving towards replacing, at vast expense, our Trident submarines and their murderous missiles and warheads.

"The total cost of this would be over £100 billion."

He said the crisis with North Korea demonstrated the futility of nuclear weapons.

He said: "It's hypocrisy to say we can have them but they can't."

Mr Kent is visiting 22 towns and cities in England.

He arrived in the city at the Gandhi statue, near the flyover in Belgrave Road, and was later greeted by city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, at the Town Hall.

He also attended a lecture at De Montfort University, and a public meeting at St Phillip's church hall in Evington Road and gave a talk to students at Countesthorpe College.

OPEN MEETING: WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

This evening the Council of Faiths co-hosts an open meeting on Weapons of Mass Destruction at St Philip's Church Hall, Evington. This meeting is being held in association with St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi-Faith Society and the Christian-Muslim Dialogue Group.

This is the fifth in a series of such meetings, on topics of interest to people from all sorts of communities across the city. I've posted on this blog about the three earlier meetings:

• Hate Crime and the Criminal Justice System, 27 February 2013
• Faith in Family, 20 November 2012
• God in My Faith, 13 March 2012
• Open Meeting with City Mayor, 31 January 2012

The speaker this evening is Bruce Kent, who is in Leicester today on the latest leg of his Scrap Trident Tour.

There are more than 60 people in attendance, though you could count those who are members of the Council of Faiths on the fingers of one hand. Most of the people here would appear to be drawn from local CND or Leicester Secular Society.

Bruce Kent (in that jumper) with Revd Sonya Brown

We are welcomed by Revd Sonya Brown, Curate at St Philips Parish Church. This is followed by an introduction by Revd Pete Hobson, Co-Chair of the Christian-Muslim Dialogue Group.

I've not attempted to make a full record of Bruce Kent's talk. His position on this topic is well known, to put it mildly. Here are a few points, however, that stuck out for me:

• He emphasised that he is interested not so much in the elimination of nuclear weapons as in the elimination of war.
• He discussed how the idea of Weapons of Mass Destruction have a history that goes much farther back than Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• He asserted that the moral and religious arguments are barely worth discussing - self-evidently against weapons of mass destruction.
• He posited that the argument carrying most weight at the moment is the economic one - as a country, we cannot afford these weapons.

Daud Sameja, Co-Chair of the Christian-Muslim Dialogue Group, invites questions and comments from the audience. This part of the session lasts more than 45 minutes.

Suleman Nagdi makes a contribution that brings to mind a speech given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá almost exactly 100 years ago. This is entitled, "The Cruel Indifference of the People Towards the Suffering of Foreign Races", published in Paris Talks.

The question of how to reach young people with this message comes up early. Amongst a flurry of comments about how young people are apathetic and not informed or interested in big issues such as nuclear disarmament, I ask how many of us had seen Doctor Who this weekend. "Cold War" was set on board a Soviet nuclear submarine in 1983. While not especially strong on historical veracity (with a Martian Ice Warrior on board, threatening to set off the submarine's arsenal) but it certainly would have foregrounded the subject in the minds of its more than six million viewers, by far the majority of whom will have been children and young people. Only two of those present has seen it (just Pete Hobson and me); there was a kind of positive bafflement on many faces, that something unexpected has happened to increase young people's awareness - and, potentially, their interest - in this issue.

When I get to the front and take the microphone in my own right, to ask Bruce Kent what single thing has give him the greatest personal satisfaction during more than 25 years of campaigning. He has to rack his brains for an answer and when he does come up with one, it would appear to be a surprise to most of us here. He picks the honour paid to Franz Jägerstätter (who refused to serve in the army under Nazi rule) recently in Linz Cathedral, Austria.

While at the microphone, I mention that the one previous occasion I had met the speaker was in 1984, when he undertook a peace march from Faslane to Aldermaston. This started off near where I lived at the time, in Dumbarton, and I walked with Bruce Kent on the first day, from the nuclear submarine base (and peace camp) at Faslane to the town hall in Dumbarton, where there was a small civic reception. On that occasion, I presented him with a copy of The Promise of World Peace, which was only recently published and which we had a good record of distributing around the town and district.

At the end of the meeting this evening, a couple came up to me and said that they had organised that walk in 1984 and had done the whole route themselves, so we must have met on that day, 29 years before. Unfortunately for me (and for you, faithful reader), they were whisked away when my back was turned, so I managed to get neither a photograph nor their names.

PEACE WALK PROTEST AT FACTORY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

"Peace walk" protest at factory

Peace campaigners staged a demonstration yesterday outside a factory which makes parts for unmanned military drones.

The protest, by people on a 90-mile "peace walk", took place outside the Thales factory, in Scudamore Road, Braunstone Frith, Leicester.

Participant Penny Walker, of Leicester CND, said: "The walk is to mark the Drones Week of Action, to campaign against the use of unmanned aircraft in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"The Leicester Thales factory makes electronics for the Watchkeeper drone, and that is why we held a demonstration outside."

The walkers, who come from around the country, were met by the Red Leicester Choir outside the factory yesterday afternoon.

They were due to set off again this morning from the Gandhi statue, in Belgrave Road, Leicester.

The 90-mile walk started near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, on Saturday, and passed through Hinckley on the way to Leicester yesterday.

It will continue towards RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, where the march will finish on Saturday.

Another participant, Maya Evans, of Hastings, said: "During a visit to Afghanistan last December, I met a 19-year-old whose brother-in-law – a trainee police officer with a wife and one-year-old son – was killed in a drone strike."

She said the idea of the march was to get people talking about drones in the places which the walkers pass through.

Ms Evans added: "We are walking in solidarity with those killed or harmed by drones."The walk coincided with a 20,000-strong protest in Pakistan, led by former cricket international and politician Imran Khan.

Drones are unmanned aircraft equipped with weapons and cameras.No-one from Thales was available for comment yesterday.

PEACEFUL PROTESTERS MAKE THEIR POINT

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Peaceful protesters make their point

Peace campaigners handed out white peace poppies at Leicester's Clock Tower yesterday to mark the United Nations Day of Peace.

Members of Leicester Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament gathered at the Clock Tower with banners and leaflets to spread their messages.

The group is campaigning against wars throughout the world, as well as nuclear weapons and the use of unmanned aircraft by the military. Committee member Anna Cheetham said the campaigners gave out hundreds of white poppies and leaflets during the day.

She said: "We do this each year and, as usual, some people take the leaflets and others don't. It was a cold and wet afternoon, so I wouldn't say it was a good response, but we were there and we had some people coming up to us to talk about the issues.

"We spoke about the wars going on and the other problems and how fighting isn't going to make any of it any better."

ANNIVERSARY OF A-BOMB MARKED

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Anniversary of A-bomb marked

An anti-nuclear weapons group has thanked those who supported a vigil in memory of the 67th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing.

Twenty-five supporters of the Leicester group of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) gathered on Monday to mark the occasion.

Committee member Anna Cheetham donned a mask and kimono to represent those who died.

She fell to the ground and left a chalked silhouette while Councillor Lynn Senior read a poem written for the event.

CND member John Hoffman played his bagpipes to commemorate those who died at Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and in Nagasaki on August 9.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby signed up as a member of the Hiroshima Mayors for Peace organisation. He was presented with a bouquet of flowers.

HIROSHIMA IS REMEMBERED

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Hiroshima is remembered

Campaigners for nuclear disarmament will be marking the anniversary of the first atomic bomb with a vigil in the city centre.

Members of Leicester CND will gather by the Clock Tower at 8am on Monday to remember the victims of the Hiroshima attack in August 1945.

A woman dressed in a Japanese kimono will die a symbolic death at 8.15am, the exact time when the bomb was dropped 67 years ago to the day.

Later in the morning, the group will be joined by city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby who, from 9.30am, will be talking to passers by and handing out leaflets.

CND MEMBERS MARK HIROSHIMA ANNIVERSARY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

CND members mark Hiroshima anniversary

Campaigners for nuclear disarmament will be reminding shoppers about the anniversary of the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Members of Leicester CND will man a street stall tomorrow, in Cheapside.

They will be handing out leaflets and chatting to passers-by from 10.30am to 12.45pm.

The anniversary of the Hiroshima attack falls on Monday.

Anna Cheetham, of Leicester CND, said: "Each year we remember that terrible day when nuclear weapons were used on a city about the size of Leicester.

"Many thousands were killed immediately, some being vapourised by the appalling heat of the bomb.

"Others have continued to die since from radiation-produced cancers."

CND campaigners will hold a vigil of remembrance at the Clock Tower from 8am on Saturday and will make a presentation to Sir Peter Soulsby between 9.30am and 10.30am.