Parliament Square protest: Demonstrators hold Stop Trident demo outside Commons ahead of MPs vote

Jamie Bullen19 July 2016
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Demonstrators have camped out at Parliament Square in an “emergency protest” to scrap the Trident nuclear weapons system.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) said it staged the demo in an effort to persuade MPs from abandoning the nuclear deterrent ahead of a vote in Parliament tonight.

At Parliament Square, speakers included Hackney MP Diane Abbott and peace activist Kate Hudson while Blur singer Damon Albarn tweeted his support for the event.

Amid heavy security, the peaceful demonstrators removed their jackets to show their anti-Trident T-shirts and held up fabric banners - which read "No Trident", "Scotland Says Trident No More" and "Scrap Trident".

Protest: The Stop Trident demo took place on Parliament Square ahead of a vote to renew Britain's nuclear weapons system
Kingsley Abrams

Protester Brian Larkin, 56, of Howgate in Scotland, said: "I take the long view that campaigns like this are part of things which are needed, along with the campaigns happening across the country to speak out about Trident."

Passionate plea: Peace activist Kate Hudson was among the speakers to address the protest
Kingsley Abrams

Among the protesters were women who marched at Greenham Common in the 1980s following the announcement that nuclear weapons were to be sited at RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire.

Retired district nurse Margaret Bremner, 61, said: “I came because I am not resigned (about this issue).

“I am not resigned about this, some 30 years on, otherwise I would not be trying to campaign on this. Those of us who think nuclear weapons are immoral need to have our say.

“I believe that people still can do the right thing."

While Sylvia Boyes, 72, from west Yorkshire, said she had travelled to Westminster because "our Government is paying lip service to disarmament and I felt I need to take a stand".

The women were among around 10 people who sang peace songs in the central lobby.

However, despite passionate pleas outside Parliament, the protest was described as “small scale” in comparison to previous demonstrations.

Law professor Thom Brooks tweeted: “Bigger crowd in Parliament Square than Central Lobby - but still small scale protest against #Trident Seen much bigger in years past.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in