Dear all, 

Please find this week’s digest below. Thanks for your support and have a lovely weekend.

 Britain

• CND kicked off its tour of nuclear bases last Saturday with a protest at the BAE shipyard in Barrow. You can watch Sophie’s interview with Granada Report here, and read some coverage of the demo here and here.
• Sophie’s also wrote a piece about the government’s war drive following a recent visit to Faslane and Barrow by Keir Starmer and John Healey.
• CND’s response to military spending hikes in the budget.
• CND’s comment on the recent record-breaking Vanguard patrol.
• Chatham House on how Britain’s nuclear weapons relies on US support.
• An online poll of over 1,000 Scots found that a majority support retaining nuclear weapons.

Global Nukes

• USA Today: I’m Oppenheimer’s grandson. I support Trump’s pursuit of nuclear diplomacy. President Donald Trump is right to propose direct talks with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Xi Jinping of China on nuclear arms control.

Nuclear Testing

• Science News has an article on the possible return to nuclear testing, following calls by a former national security advisor to Trump.

Ukraine

• Donald Trump has suggested that the US could take ownership of Ukrainian nuclear plants to ensure their security once the war with Russia ends.

Israel

• Sophie has a quote in this Declassified UK report on Britain’s role in Israel’s undisclosed nuclear weapons programme.

Iran

• Iran says it responded to Trump’s nuclear talks letter, voices readiness for indirect negotiations. “This official response includes a letter in which our position regarding the current situation and Mr Trump’s letter has been fully explained to the other party,” Iranian foreign minister says.

NATO / Europe

• Now is not the time for the US or Europe to go it alone, warns NATO chief. Mark Rutte says US wants reassurance European allies will ‘step up’ while Europe needs to know ‘Uncle Sam still has our back’.

• America is the cornerstone of NATO and will not abandon the alliance, the UK Defence Secretary has said. John Healey said he had spoken to Pete Hegseth, his US counterpart, who made it clear that “America is not stepping away”, in an attempt to allay fears that Donald Trump could walk away from the organisation.

UK Nuclear Energy

• French nuclear firm EDF has been decreasing its financial stake in Sizewell C this week, now owning just 14.6% of the project. This leaves the British government with 85.4%.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament