Defend the right to protest against genocide! Update on the next national march for Palestine, 18 January

The right to protest against Israel’s genocide is under serious attack. Despite agreeing the route for the upcoming national march for Palestine over two months ago, the Metropolitan Police is now trying to prevent any Saturday protests at the BBC!

The reason for the focus at the BBC is to protest against the pro-Israel bias of its coverage. As a publicly-funded state broadcaster, the BBC is rightly accountable to the public.

In response, MPs, peers, trade unionists, artists, writers and campaigning organisations have signed a statement arguing that ‘the rights to protest and free speech are precious. It is not acceptable in a democratic society that, in the face of an ongoing genocide in Gaza, people should be barred from protesting at the BBC. We call on the police to drop their objections and allow the protest to go ahead as planned.’

Read the statement

Please read the statement here and help us share it on social media here (Instagram), here (Bluesky) and here (X) using the hashtag #WeWillMarch.

We will be marching in London on Saturday 18 January! We will keep you updated on developments. You can also check our event page for latest information.

Donald Trump and Mark Rutte shake hands and smile

Donald Trump's second term as US President looks set to worsen global instability. This week alone, he's threatened neighbours north and south, arguing for an invasion of Greenland in order to secure access to its mineral wealth and new shipping lanes through the melting arctic.

On top of this he's demanded that NATO members extend military spending from 2.5 to 5% of GDP. For Britain, that would be a whopping £150 billion per year going on weapons of death and destruction.

CND is protesting his inauguration on Monday, January 20, as part of the Together Against Trump coalition, to highlight the global threat his presidency poses.

Monday, 20 January
5-7pm
College Green (opposite Parliament), London, details here

What will Trump's presidency mean for nuclear weapons in Europe? CND and Global Women United for Peace against NATO are hosting an international webinar on Saturday, 25 January. European nukes - time to go! brings together activists from the US and across Europe to discuss the growing NATO presence in Europe and the imposition of nuclear weapons in NATO countries.

Saturday, 25 January
6-7pm (UK), register here

US spy drones out of Fairford! - online event, 15 January

RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire is set to become a hub for US global spy activity, with long-range Reaper and Global Hawk drones used for missions in Gaza and across the Middle East.

Join CND, Drone Wars, and Oxfordshire Peace Campaign for an online meeting on Wednesday, 15 January, to discuss these developments and Britain's complicity in US spying regimes.

Wednesday, 15 January
7-8:30pm, register here

With speakers: Peter Burt, Drone Wars, with a background on the use of RAF Fairford by the US Air Force; Chris Cole, Drone Wars, on Global Hawk drone flights from Fairford; Lewis Backon, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, on the use of drones in Palestine; and Sophie Bolt, CND General Secretary, on what these spy flights mean in the global context.

The meeting will be followed by a protest at RAF Fairford on Saturday, 25 January. More details, including bus details from Oxford, can be found on our event page here.