Yorkshire CND 2026 AGM

Attendees: 3 online & 25 in-person

Location: Mill Hill Chapel, City Square, Leeds, LS1 5EB

Date: 24th January 2026

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11:30am – Light refreshments and socialising

Midday –  Talk + Q&A with Mothin Ali

• Mothin thanked Yorkshire CND for the invitation, and informed the group that he became involved through Menwith Hill activism about 20 years ago
• He had been asked to talk about what CND can learn from the growing interest in the
• Green Party
• Raised how the dangerous times we are living in are being escalated by Trump – “When leaders are volatile the world becomes more dangerous”
• He referenced how Russia and America trying to expand territories as contributing to making the world more dangerous
• Mothin explained how the Green Party is trying to use the UN and NATO to do peace building – “peace is the only way forward”… “War leads to more war”
• Mothin also said that storytelling is key to connecting with the public. He suggested that we could be retelling stories from people at the start of the CND movement, and that although the brand identity is there (everyone recognises ‘the peace symbol’), the recognition of its original meaning and heritage is not
• This lack of recognition may be due to the largely older demographic, and that the next generation (Gen Z etc.) aren’t being raised in an anti-nuclear movement.
• “Every member of the CND has a story to tell. We need to capture those stories to engage the next generation of activists.”
• Heritage and branding is something we should work with and on. Mothin suggested that elders in the room need to share their stories with the next generation e.g. via social media. (it was noted that this was a key part of the TPNW campaign in the UN).
• Mothin also suggested that the audience watches Zack Polanski’s new video about how everyone is in a state of just trying to survive 
• Gaza has unified so many people because it was so outrageous, and people wanted to stand up and protest. We need to find a way of working more together
• When telling stories, short punchy phrases do well. Likewise, it’s important to speak from the heart and have conversation.
• He raised the point that there is an increase in military spending while people are struggling to eat. This is something we should emphasise in CND campaigning when getting our message out there. This goes for people all over the country – it may surprise some how big the divide is in London
• We live in a time of systematic dismantling of working-class communities
• In the 2009 financial crisis money was made available to bail out the banks. Likewise, when there’s war money will be available for it. Those in charge say they can’t create money from thin air, or there is just no money available.They often just mean there’s no money for you.
• A growing concern is the build up of military forces in Europe, with Trump seeing that as a hostile challenge
• We need policy space to advocate for the world we would like, rather than getting angry about the world we are living in. With this positive message, and the wit CND has been famous for in their older campaign materials, we have the means to compel new audiences for CND.

1:15pm – Year in review presentation

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17JToQsPg8XZfdby5FxZ6ew624AhHeiEO/view?usp=sharing

1:10pm – Reports (finance & worker)

• The financial reports show that for the first time in 2 years we have not made a loss and are just about breaking even.
• We have been informed by National CND that we will not be getting an increase in the grant. This is due to some concerns about membership decline, despite legacies that will help CND be sustained for a number of years to come.
• We will not get any festival income this year, due to Glastonbury not happening. 
• We have a buffer of about £35000 in reserves
• Those present voted in favour of the finance statement, and no queries/objections.
• Regarding the worker report, Sam said that 2025 has been good for engagement and we’ve had some useful volunteers from Leeds Beckett University.
• The office refurb has gone well, and we’ve had volunteers come in to help sort through our shop stock/archive of materials. It still needs some work, but it’s much more organised than before.
• We’ve had some great collaborations e.g. with the Peace Museum/Mek Summat for the Pins For Peace exhibit & even were awarded a grant to invite a director from Spain for a talk about his film on Ishiro Honda (the director of Godzilla).
• Yorkshire CND membership remains roughly the same (floating around 200 members)
• Sam suggested that moving forwards he would like volunteers to help with phone calls to get in touch with Yorkshire CND members and National CND members based in Yorkshire. It would be good to make sure that everyone in the area is aware about what we are doing. This will be particularly important ahead of the Marham & Lakenheath demos this year.

1:20pm – Voting of coordinating committee

• Chris Butler stepped down from Coord
• No one new put themselves forward to join Co-ord.
• No challenges to current positions
• Those present agreed to keep with the same committee members, with no objections

Chair: Dave Webb

Vice-Chairs: Cath Bann & Charlie Fairbank

Treasurer: Hugh Hubbard

Other members of coord – Colin Archer, James Fishwick, Miriam Moss, Richard Bakewell, Jimmy McCleod, Rashida Islam, Alasdair Beal, & Matthew Maslen

1:30pm – Resolution (Russian, NATO & the Ukraine war)

• This motion was proposed by Cath Bann, and seconded by Alasdair Beal.
• “This meeting believes that CND should make it clear at every opportunity that it opposes BOTH Russian as well as US aggression/nuclear build up and it condemns Russia’s invasion and continued bombardment of Ukraine.

Therefore, this AGM resolves:

1ٙ) To urge National CND to make clear in all relevant communications that it condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its continued bombardment and attacks on the country.

2ٙ) To urge National CND to organise a demo at the Russian Embassy in accordance with the resolution passed at national conference 2025.”

• Cath raised that she believes there is not enough criticism from National CND about Russia “People are happy to criticise the US but not Russia”
• She also raised that there is not enough support for or statements about the uprising in Iran
• Cath emphasised that she thought that this motion aligns with what was passed at the National CND Conference, and will show our support to ensure this happens in 2026. That being:

“1) to hold a national demonstration that starts at the Russian Embassy and then goes to the US Embassy via the MOD

2) if logistics allow, this demonstration should also take in the French and Chinese Embassies, and the embassies of other nuclear-armed states”

• Against the motion: Peter said that he thought that NATO were to blame for the conflict in Ukraine. He was concerned that the wording of the motion condemned the actions of Russia but not the expansion of NATO and its threat to Russian security.
• Against: Dave explained that he considered NATO, and particularly the US, were to blame for the armed conflict. A 2014 Western backed coup to replace Viktor Yanukovych (a Russian favourable president), increased tensions around majority Russian-speaking parts of Ukraine. A significant separatist movement developed in the Donbass region and around 15,000 people were killed in the region by the Ukrainian military. NATO’s continuing push for expansion, including the incorporation of Ukraine, despite numerous warnings by Russia, has led to war. The agreements arrived at between the parties in Minsk show that a solution is possible but although agreed by all parties, the conflict continued. The proposed motion is too simplistic and unbalanced. The resolution should be edited to be more balanced with regard to NATO’s role & Europe’s feeding of money and arms to keep the war going.
• Colin spoke in favour of the motion and against the idea that this motion was unbalanced. He suggested that the wording of the motion, and the idea of passing it, is to balance the actions of National CND. We are in a situation of competing empires and we should have more conversations about UN peace keeping, global south peace keeping, and CND’s stance on post-peace deal options. He also noted that allowing Ukraine to bomb Russia is dangerous (e.g. via storm shadow missiles) and likely to provoke a nuclear war.
• Richard – big job to reverse image of CND.
• For: Hugh, speaking for the motion, said that it is vital that we work on our messaging to rebalance CND position. We shouldn’t forget that Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons, and this stands regardless of provocation by NATO. Russia still has the order of 6000 nuclear weapons and has been threatening their use on several occasions recently.
•  A vote was taken, with 9 people voting in favour of the motion and 7 against.
• The motion was therefore passed.
• It was agreed to discuss more and finalise an approach to National CND at the next Yorkshire CND co-ord meeting on 18th February 2026.

1:50pm – Marham & Lakenheath plans

• National CND demo at RAF Marham on 28th February.
• Yorkshire CND to publicise the event to gather interest e.g. through a poll shared via social media and the mailing list.
• Agreed that Yorkshire CND should provide a financial contribution from their funds to support members who want to attend the demo.
• Agreed to put more emphasis on the Lakenheath Peace Camp in April.
• National CND plans to push for 4th April for a national presence at the demo. Yorkshire CND to put more time into supporting this and working towards bringing a coach/minibus.
• Yorkshire CND to do a volunteer call out to get help calling CND members, to gather momentum.

2pm – AOB

• Richard wants us to ensure we keep up momentum in Sheffield, especially in relation to the AMRC revelations last year. We are in discussion to help organise a march from the Town Hall to Oliver Coppard`s office or a demo at the AMRC, in collaboration with local organisers.
• 4th July Menwith Hill – Independence from America Day
• “Make America Go Away” hats could be useful for the Menwith Hill demos.
• Leeds CND celebrated the 5th anniversary of the TPNW, by gathering in Park Square on 22nd January.
• Doomsday clock closest to midnight it’s ever been. Unlikely to move back.
• Half of the world (in terms of the number of states) have now signed up in support of TPNW.
• John Baruch tells the audience about the Greenside Peace and Development Centre in Bradford (Clayton). He would like some help getting the word out, and suggests people  use it for accommodation and/or events.
• Sheffield report – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k0S2oBKf149ETKYaBvqCeqTumFpEeP_J/view?usp=sharing