Sarah Lasenby
This is a mystery. Who painted this banner that I am holding as part of a protest last Monday (20 September) with some Oxford Quakers outside the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Aldermaston? The banner says ‘Trident Nuclear Threat – Illegal under International Law’ — and of course this is true. But does anyone recognise this banner?
This was the first time our small group of Oxford Quakers had been to protest for two years (see below if you would like to join us in October).
We stand with statements about peace and against Nuclear weapons, demonstrating to the people leaving their work in the bomb factory.
I call this banner a mystery because when some years ago I needed some cloth to make a new banner, I went to Orinoco in Oxford, a very useful recycling centre. I asked for a large piece of cloth like a blind. They had no blinds but the man said ‘I think I have just the thing for you’ and went to a shelf where there was a piece of black satin carefully folded. When I opened it up it had the words you see in the photo painted in white. Perfect for our protests.
The other mystery is why our Government has raised the number of nuclear bombs by 40% when for years they have been reducing them in line with their NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) Article VI undertaking “to pursue
negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control”.
Our next trip to Aldermaston is on Tuesday 19 October. If you would like to come too, please ring me, Sarah Lasenby, on (01865) 725991.
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Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 510 • October 2021
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW