CND: Britain pushes for more escalation in Ukraine / AUKUS webinar / Register for CND conference

Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, visited Kyiv this week, unveiling plans that Britain will transfer classified blueprints so Ukraine can produce its own Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles. It follows a similar technology transfer announcement made by France last month, who, alongside Britain co-produce the missile with European multi-national arms firm MBDA. The French version is known as the SCALP. It comes with a bunker-busting warhead and a range of 155 miles (250km).

It’s been suggested that the Storm Shadow blueprint transfer is part of a wider effort to push the US into a similar agreement for Ukraine to produce Patriot interceptor missiles domestically. Plans are already in place to set up Patriot production lines in Poland and Germany.

This comes as Russia has said that there will be ‘consequences’ after British-made drones attacked civilian infrastructure resulting in a number of casualties.

In November 2024, Keir Starmer gave permission to Ukraine to use its stock of Storm Shadows to strike targets within Russia’s own territory. This was in spite of Russia’s threat to use its nuclear weapons against such long-range attacks.

Commenting on the announcement, CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt NATO bases and nuclear weapons be stationed on its territory. It follows Belarus’s 2022 constitutional referendum to remove nuclear-free status and Finland’s more recent parliamentary decision to do the same.

Writing in the Morning Star, CND Chair Tom Unterrainer analyses these changes, European rearmament, and what it means for escalating nuclear dangers.

AUKUS: Dimensions of a dubious submarine deal – CND webinar, Thursday 24 September

Join CND and Scottish CND for a joint webinar to discuss the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal – which breaches the NPT. Announced in 2021, the AUKUS pact between Australia, Britain, and the US will deliver for the first time a nuclear-powered attack submarine capability to the Australian navy in return for massive investments in the US and British nuclear submarine industries, including the BAE Shipyard in Barrow. The pact has since widened to include cooperation on other warfighting capabilities like hypersonic missiles, Artificial Intelligence, and quantum technologies.

This agreement is leading to an arms race in the Pacific, greater nuclear proliferation, and is increasing tensions with China. Join us on Thursday 24 September to learn more.

• Thursday, 24 September
• 5:00pm to 6:00pm (UK)
• Online, register here

With guest speakers: Sybilla George, writer and researcher from Melbourne; Tim Deere-Jones, marine scientist and researcher; and Sophie Bolt, CND General Secretary. Chaired by Lynn Jamieson, Scottish CND Chair.

CND AGM & policy conference 2026

Preparations are underway for this year’s CND Annual General Meeting and policy conference. This is a vital part of CND’s democratic structure where we elect officers, vote on policy, and set our campaigning objectives for the year ahead.

This year’s meeting will take place online on Sunday 4 October.

The AGM and policy conference is free to attend and open to any paid-up member of CND. If you are not yet a member of CND and would like to attend, you can join CND today here. If your membership has lapsed, you can rejoin here. If you are unsure about your current membership status, you can email [email protected]. Please do not register unless you are a member. To help our team, please register as early as possible.

Deadline for registrations is Wednesday 23 September.

You can learn more about this year’s AGM on the conference page here.