From 21 to 24 April, CND and other members of XR Peace participated in Extinction Rebellion’s ‘The Big One’ event around the Houses of Parliament in London.
XR Peace’s presence specifically highlighted the military causes and impacts of climate chaos with a series of workshops, creative actions and pickets outside the Ministry of Defence. We also called on the UK government to take urgent action to reduce nuclear and military dangers and work towards building real and sustainable security for all.
Other demands included: ending investments and subsidies for companies involved in the development, manufacture, and sale of conventional and nuclear weapons; measuring and publishing annual military greenhouse gas emissions; stopping the provision of permissions and funding for new nuclear power plants and weapons; and ending fossil fuel and nuclear dependencies, while raising awareness about the serious humanitarian, climate, and environmental dangers of deploying these technologies for weapons and power.
On Monday, these demands were voiced in a letter handed in to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, as well as to the leaders of the Houses of Commons and Lords by CND General Secretary Kate Hudson, CND Vice-President Rebecca Johnson, and Dr Stuart Parkinson from Scientists for Global Responsibility.
Activists also took part in wider XR marches throughout the weekend culminating with the surrounding of Parliament on Monday. We’d like to thank everyone who attended as part of XR Peace and contributed to a wonderful series of actions while standing up for both peace and planet.
