Text: Bruce Kent at Aldermaston

Bruce Kent

Bruce Kent Vice President CND is giving the following address at Aldermaston today.

There is only one reason why we are here to day, 60 years after the first Aldermaston March of 1958. That reason is simply the power of suicidal and foolish British nationalism. There is no other explanation which accounts for the willingness of our present parliament to spend over £200 billion on yet another generation of nuclear weapons.

It is exactly that illusion which started the country non the nuclear weapon road in 1946. It was Ernest Bevin who swayed a meeting called by Clement Attlee in favour of a so-called independent nuclear weapons. Said he: 'we have got to have this thing over here whatever it costs. We've got to have the bloody Union Jack flying on top of it'.

This is the silly and dangerous jingoism which has got us into this dangerous mess and keeps us in it up to the present day.

What other possible good reason could keep this nuclear weapon show on the road. Our Security?

Our nuclear weapons give us nothing of the sort. There have been a long string of nuclear weapon accidents and dangerous misunderstanding. In fact Robert McNamara, key United States spokesman and nuclear negotiator, said at the end of his life that it was not our intelligence that save us but only 'good luck'.

If they did give security why not tear up the nuclear non proliferation treaty and let every country that can afford them have the.?

Ours are not even independent. We have to borrow, on a regular rotating basis, the US missiles on which to out our war heads .

They give us security? Not against accidents. Not against suicidal non territorial groups.

Against nuclear armed countries ? Only, as Peregrine Worsthorne once said , 'if we as a people are willing to be prepared commit to national suicide'.

It was George Kennan US diplomat who said years ago 'To my mind the nuclear bomb is the most useless weapon ever invented. It can be employed at no rational purpose. It is not even an effective defence against itself.'

2017 brought us tremendous encouragement with the UN Treaty banning nuclear weapons. To keep the momentum going in 2018 it might be useful to ask why we in the peace movement here not been as effective as we would have liked ? The word unilateral has been made a term of abuse. But remember that the arms race has developed not by agreement but by a variety of dangerous national steps.

Why should it not be brought to an end in part in the same way by going into reverse by sensible national steps?

Speaking as Christian, I have to say that comment from the major churches in this country has been guarded and muted. The Trade Unions? From some of them comes the message that jobs come first - as if those who make nuclear weapons are incapable of making anything useful instead of weapons of mass destruction.

The anti poverty lobby ? They see themselves as limited by so called ' charity' legislation.

Start to take on issues related to global poverty, and the arms race certainly is a major one, and you put at risk the generous tax benefits that ' charities 'get.

We too have not always been clever and certainly there are bits of campaigning and public education which we could have done better . But we represent today thousands of generous, committed supporters and hardworking CND staff who keep going in season or out of it.

I have to say that the Labour party, of which I am not member, has been so far on this issue something of a disappointment. Despite having an honest leader 'who would not press the button' British nationalism, of the Bevin mould, still takes pride of place amongst some Labour MPs.

Now is the time to be clear. The £200 billion to be spent on Trident replacement will not be spent on the National Health Service, on decent housing or on the relief of poverty at home or abroad.

It is instead due to be spent on a replacement nuclear system which provides no security and is not even independent.

Long ago Lord Mountbatten had strong views on so called nuclear security. He quoted the Roman precept 'If you want peace prepared for war.' Said he 'This is absolute nuclear nonsense and a dangerous miscalculation'.

Thank you for listening. You know all this anyway The task in front of us is to win the political struggle by getting more and more people and civic organisations to see that all this is no pie in the sky--- what we are saying is grass roots common sense.

Some campaigns take long time like anti slavery and votes for women.. Let us not be disappointed - the time to get rid of British and all nuclear weapons is not far away.