ICAN-UK has finished a round of public meetings across the country raising public awareness of the fact that nuclear weapons are routinely driven through British towns and cities.
Birmingham meeting plans campaigns against nuclear convoys
These nuclear convoys make their way from their base in Scotland down to the refurbishment plant in Berkshire passing by major population hot-spots including Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Preston, Newcastle, Birmingham, and Nottingham.
ICAN believes that the public has a right to know about these convoys and should have the opportunity to raise concerns they might have with politicians and that was why we hosted public meetings at locations along the route – Birmingham, Preston, and Newcastle.
Our meetings provided a fantastic base for us to spread awareness of these convoys and get the public involved in campaigns to get them off our roads. We’d like to give a particularly special thanks to all the speakers who attended our events: Peter Burt of Nukewatch and Professor Imti Choonara in Birmingham; Joan West of CND, Nigel Day of Nukewatch, Stuart Parkinson of Scientists for Global Responsibility, and Liz Stanton of Greenpeace in Preston; and Andrew Gray, again of Nukewatch, and Dr Liz Waterston from Medact who spoke in Newcastle.
Setting up in Preston
Between each of our speakers we were able to cover a whole range of topics from the history of nuclear convoys to the type of accident a convoy might be involved in to the various impacts that could have on the public.
At the end of each meeting we gave over time to plan how to further raise awareness of nuclear convoys during our week of action planned for 21st to 26th September. Some fantastic ideas were generated – so watch this space! If you’d like to get involved in the Nukes of Hazard convoys campaign visit nukesofhazard.co.uk or email matt@icanw.org