Thousands attend major international summit against war and nuclear expansion

On Saturday, over 2,500 people from across the European trade union and peace movements, and many more activists from across the world, packed out Central Hall Westminster for a crucial summit on how we can coordinate opposition to military rearmament, nuclear expansion, and conscription.

The conference came as the British government is in the midst of a crisis over its war agenda and efforts to push through huge hikes in military spending at the cost of cuts to public services. This morning, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his intention to resign once a new Labour party leader is chosen over the summer recess. Prior to his resignation, CND called for a change in direction from any new Prime Minister – one that rejects the “drive to war-readiness and nuclear expansion, which is making the world more dangerous, putting our populations at risk and dragging us into deeper poverty and social deprivation.”

Saturday’s summit was an important opportunity for CND to raise awareness about the growing nuclear threat across Europe and further build links with the European peace movement. We gave out hundreds of copies of a new CND briefing paper, ‘Rising to the challenge: building a global majority against nuclear weapons.’ It looks at the growing nuclear expansion taking place across Europe and discusses the need for coordinated action for the withdrawal of nuclear weapons from the region and the shutting down of the military bases where they are deployed. You can find an online version of it to download and read here.

You can watch back all the speeches from Saturday’s summit on the event’s live stream. Start from the beginning or jump to CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt’s address here.

‘85 Seconds to Midnight: A Physicist’s Argument Against Rearmament’ – Q&A session with author Carlo Rovelli, Tomorrow, 23 June

There are still some spaces available for tomorrow’s Q&A event with the global best-selling author, philosopher, and physicist, Carolo Rovelli, to discuss his new book, ‘85 Seconds to Midnight: A Physicist’s Argument Against Rearmament.’

This urgent intervention comes as nuclear weapons states continue to spend billions of pounds modernising and expanding their nuclear arsenals – and greatly increasing the threat of nuclear use. In his work, Carlo reframes the story of nuclear weapons, from the arms race of World War II and the narrowly averted atomic disasters of the Cold War to the political brinkmanship careening out of control today. He argues why our humanity and intelligence must now prevail.

• Tuesday, 23 June
• 3:00-4:30pm
• The Green House, London E2 9DA

Tickets for this event are free and copies of the book will be available to purchase at the event. With the temperature forecast to be around 34 degrees in London tomorrow, we would like to remind attendees that the venue has air conditioning and that cold water will be provided to ensure everyone is hydrated.