BPEC News

The first of April is generally a time for news reports on the Yeti or for dangerous stunts involving Superglue. However, there is a more progressive way to have fun. Grassroots network Rising Tide has renamed it ‘Fossil Fools Day’ and is calling for direct action against the ‘climate circus’ of big business. Harnessing a spirit of mischief and creativity, they suggest 15 pranks to help topple the fossil fuel empire, from ‘spanking a bank’ to media hacks or a Critical Mass bike ride. Rising Tide argues that there’s too much vested interest in energy solutions for the corporations to be trusted. One example is how food prices have dramatically risen as multinationals join the scramble for biofuels. Instead, a community-led transition to a low-carbon society is necessary. Events are being coordinated in key locations across three continents and lots more individual contacts will be staged locally. The ‘15 Actions’ booklet is available from BPEC or can be downloaded from www.risingtide.org.uk. Both offer a wealth of links and eye-opening facts, making them great information resources. Follow up actions in May and June are planned, see www.networkforclimateaction.org.uk for further details.

On Good Friday 1958 a popular peace movement was born - 10,000 people gathered in Trafalgar Square to demonstrate against Britain's first hydrogen bomb tests. Over the next four days, they braved rain and snow to march over 50 miles to the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Research Establishment in Berkshire - to this day the guardian of Britain's nuclear weapons programme. Nearly half a century later this coming Easter weekend, the Aldermaston march takes place again, this time to celebrate 50 years of anti-nuclear protest in Britain. The event became an annual pilgrimage in the 1960's, with more marchers traversing the route every year.

Be inspired and impressed by Eileen Daffern's Essays on a Life - the memoirs of a 93 year old Brighton lady living life at the frontline of the peace movement, available at the Brighton Peace and Environment Centre now (£12 or £10 for members). Peace campaigner, internationalist and feminist, Eileen was born in 1914 in Yorkshire during a time of intense transformation and upheavel. She became politically active during the Second World War and joined the Communist Party in 1941. Hiroshima turned her into a lifelong campaigner for nuclear disarmament, and her driving sense of purpose has shown no sign of diminishing as she now reaches her mid-nineties.