Bromley Borough CND News

A Little Bit of Peace and Reconciliation in   Bromley                                               [  A Dedication to Lorna Mackenzie Driscoll ] In November 2003  an article appeared in the Bromley News Shopper in which it was reported that Lorna objected to us holding our annual white poppy ceremony on Remembrance Sunday. She quite understandably felt angry that her husband Ian a former Prisoner of War in Burma during World War Two had suffered greatly and that the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had saved his life as well as many other POWs. I and other peace campaigners were very upset to read  this and as secretary of Bromley and Beckenham CND wrote to the press expressing our concerns and saying we have no in...

An all- day conference held at Conway Hall on 17 th June To give an impression of the high quality of this event, here is a thumbnail of the contributions made by just 3 of the 20 speakers: Caroline Lucas, Green Party, speaking by video link from New York, (there to support the UN Treaty banning Nuclear Weapons), celebrated the milestone reached in the UK at midday on 7 th June 2017, when renewable energy generation (combined solar, wind, hydro and biomass) for the first time met over 50% of electricity demand. She quoted the proverb: “ When storms come, some build walls, while others build windmills ”.     Andrew Warren , Chairman, British Energy Efficiency Federation, said it is a scandal that we have no government research into whether the £24 billion being spent on Hinkley Point C would be better spent on energy efficiency. He pointed out that despite government predictions (in 2003) that energy demand would rise three-fold over the next ten years, energy...

Fukushima Wastelands  Fields of black plastic bags filled with radioactive waste stretch across Fukushima Prefacture  Deserted streets Deserted houses Deserted schools  A child’s pink bicycle abandoned in a garage Geiger counters buzz as white-clad officials monitor here and there Deserted shops Deserted libraries Deserted allotments A tsunami marker stone stands firm on a hill in Tomiaka - A reminder overseeing this devastating destruction The sun shines, but there’s no one about The wind blows the luscious vegetation, but it’s inedible Flowers bloom, but are not seen, smelt or picked 164,865 people have left this polluted paradise 8% of the urban and rural land mass is uninhabitable 20 milliesieverts per year is now the Government’s safe radiation threshold Japan’s 54 nuclear power plants lie close to tsunami-prone seas Their white temple- like domes and austere structures  gleam and glisten in seemingly pristine condition ...

MEMBERS of Bromley and Beckenham CND are appalled at the decision to renew the Trident missile system at a cost of many billions when money is badly needed for the NHS, education, public services and creating jobs in alternative industries and civilian ship-building. We’re now more vulnerable as a target and there is a constant danger of a nuclear accident. The manufacture of nuclear weapons also causes pollution for both workers and civilians. A big thank you to the courage and wisdom of the 171 MPs who voted to oppose Trident renewal and shame on those who agreed. As the Tory MP Crispin Blunt said, “this a colossal investment in a system that will become increasingly vulnerable”. Much of the technology of the four nuclear submarines is outdated, and launching the missiles is unwieldy. If Theresa May ‘pressed the button’, as she said she would, the UK could already have been annihilated. The Trident deterrent is a dangerous fallacy. Nuclear weapons are immoral and also il...

Looking West They come from all quarters. Money, age, status. . . . . . . . those things don’t matter When they stand in tatters. Belongings gone – no home or country to call their own. It’s a danger zone, a world of death they left. They won’t hold their breath when there’s talk of help on offer. They’ve suffered night and day and Learned not to trust what people say. First: the flight from their village or town. People shot down from behind while running for their lives. Then……………………………………..they reach the camp. Here, they find a refuge after countless days of travel. They felt their lives unravel as boats threw out their young. No jacket or ropes could save them from this destiny. The sea just swallowed up those broken boats, not fit for human cargo. How much further could they go without losing their possessions or their minds? They’d heard that in the West, the people were kind. And here in the “Jungle” the travelling is over. They’ve reached the final stage. This town wh...

God Bless America Gun slinger society loaded bullet Gods Praise be! Hallelujah! These words that will absolve you from the Devil's clutches and let you fire away. This sacred absolution; down to earth it fell as a spent out cartridge derived from bloody war games by a spoiled and spotty juvenile who shot his comrades dead. Wet behind the ears arrogant, smug, self righteous; this moronic boy-child swaggered out on his careless errant of death. No hint of human kindness for those he soaked in pain. The NRA looked on and wondered how it could raise its game to holy profits, through divine rights enshrined in a constitution of errors and calamities , Geraldine Cowan October 2015 When it Rains the Rain of Fall Out  Who will remember Chernobyl  when it rained the rain of nuclear fall out ? Who will remember the explosion   as 190 tons of radioactive debri shot into the air ?  Who will remember the rescue operations   as th...

Peter Mullervy It is a real privilege to be here today to speak about Peter on behalf of Bromley and Beckenham CND  Bromley Trades Union Pensioners Association ,Trades Union Council, and Bromley Peace Council. These groups offer their condolences to his family and friends. I have known Peter for many years, also his sister Joan and Father Frank, when I was a member of the communist party back in the 1970s and 80s. Peter used to bring Frank to Communist meetings at my former family home at 14 Hawes Rd< Bromley. They were some of the last Bromley branch meetings before it folded in 1989. I was strongly influenced by the family’s socialist views for democracy, freedom and peace. Peter was a great inspiration for his dedication and commitment, always speaking with honesty and sound knowledge, providing important factual historical information and topical research. He spoke regularly at Bromley and Beckenham’s White Poppy ceremony as a members of ex Services CND, condem...