Members of the XR Peace Council* will come together with Extinction Rebellion over April 21-24 to highlight how war, nuclear weapons and all military production, spending and arms sales undermine our security and cause climate chaos.
We are calling on the UK government to:
- Sign up to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, scrap Trident and ensure the total elimination of all nuclear arsenals
- Publish military Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions
- Stop funding nuclear power and nuclear weapons
- Boycott and divest from all companies that develop, make, and sell inhumane conventional and nuclear weapons
- Develop and promote effective peace-building approaches, skills, and resources to address causes and resolve injustices and conflicts
Based near the Ministry of Defence in the green space between Whitehall and the MoD building, XR Peace will be holding a series of creative actions, workshops, people’s assemblies and demonstrations throughout the weekend:
Friday, 21 April
- 7-10am: Leafletting outside the MoD
- 10am-6pm: Picketing and workshops outside MoD, full programme details here
Saturday, 22 April
- XR Peace will join XR’s biodiversity rally, march, and die-in
Sunday, 23 April
- The Big One coexists with the London Marathon
Monday, 24 April
- XR Peace returns to the MoD for another day of picketing and workshops, programme details here
XR Peace Coordinator and Trident Ploughshares member Angie Zelter said:
“The time for a mass movement for essential social change is late but at last we have this important alliance-building event around Parliament. The increased militarisation of many UK institutions enables nuclear weapon threats, NATO interventions, arms deals, racist immigration policies, and the continued destruction of our natural environment by corporate takeovers. All of these undermine peace and the international legal order. Our presence outside the Ministry of Defence will highlight these important issues.”
CND General Secretary Kate Hudson said:
“The biggest threats facing our planet are those of climate collapse and nuclear war. As climate chaos continues, competition between states over dwindling resources and the prospect of conflict will only increase. We’re at the MoD to stand up for peace and the planet, and calling on the UK government to stop squandering billions of pounds on nuclear weapons, new nuclear power stations, and increased military spending. This money would be better spent on tackling the climate crisis by investing in renewable energy and working to guarantee security for all.”
Notes to editors
*XR Peace Council includes (but is not restricted to): Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp, CND, CND Cymru, Edinburgh Peace & Justice, Forces Watch, Greenham Women for Life on Earth, Iona Community, Movement for the Abolition of War, Nipponzan Myohoji, Nukewatch UK, Scottish CND, Stop the War, Trident Ploughshares, WILPF, Women in Black, War Resisters International, XR Against Arms, XR Marches. All members are responsible for their own policies, actions and publications.