Hundreds of people will gather in Tavistock Square today to remember the victims of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6th and 9th August 1945, in an event organised by London Region CND.
Today will mark the 68th anniversary of the day that “Little Boy”, an atomic bomb with the power to inflict devastation of an unprecedented nature and scale, was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima by the United States of America. Three days later a second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki.
Commenting, CND’s General Secretary Kate Hudson said “Over 340,000 people have died as a result of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As well as the remembrance ceremony in Tavistock Square, CND has sent a representative to Japan to pay our respects at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony.”
“Today, Britain has 225 warheads, each with the power to inflict 8 times the damage of the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. As well as commemorating those who have died and those who are still suffering from those horrific attacks, today we must reaffirm our determination that this should never happen again. The British Government can play its part now by scrapping Trident.”
The event will take place from noon – 1pm at the Hiroshima Cherry Tree in Tavistock Square, London WC1.
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Notes:
1. Speakers at the event include: Jeremy Corbyn MP, Cllr Jonathan Simpson (Mayor of Camden), Bruce Kent (CND Vice-President), Natalie Bennett (Leader of the Green Party), Nobu Ono (JAN UK), Linda Perks (UNISON London Regional Secretary), Peter Tatchell (Peter Tatchell Foundation), Val Brown, (London Guantanamo Campaign)
2. For further information and interviews please contact Luke Massey, CND’s Press & Communications Officer on:
E: pressoffice@cnduk.org
M: 07968 420 859
T: 020 7700 2350