IN September 2015, Scottish CND and the wider Scottish peace movement were devastated by the passing of Alan Mackinnon.

Alan was a former chair of Scottish CND and was active across the Scottish and British peace movements. He was also a staunch supporter and insightful contributor to the Morning Star.

Every year, in the run-up to the anniversary of his death, I tend to reflect on the massive contribution he made in the struggle for a peaceful world.

I think Alan would have been pleased that despite the current difficult global situation, the Scottish peace movement is alive and well.

For example, the Scottish Peace Network, which fosters joint activity between peace groups, now runs three anti-war vigils every month in Glasgow, Paisley and Irvine.

These vigils focus on putting out a clear anti-war message.

They also call for an end to the dreadful war in Ukraine through negotiation and diplomacy.

The Don’t Bank on the Bomb Scotland Network is a part of the Scottish peace movement which campaigns for Scottish financial institutions and public bodies to divest from companies involved in the production and development of nuclear weapons.

The network recently organised protests outside Royal Bank of Scotland branches in Glasgow and Edinburgh to highlight the bank’s millions of pounds of investments the bank has tied up in assisting the production of nuclear weapons.

Scottish CND’s anti-war trade union network is becoming an important voice within Scottish trade union structures.

In the past, the network has produced reports making the case for diversifying the Scottish economy. These reports showed that if there was enough political will, money currently spent on maintaining the nuclear weapons base at Faslane could be used in ways that directly benefited communities up and down Scotland.

At recent meetings, the trade union network has been discussing the dreadful war in Ukraine which has resulted in substantial loss of life and massive displacement of people fleeing their homes to save the lives of their families.

The network is also concerned by current government hikes in military spending.

In 2021-22, Britain spent an eye-watering £45.9 billion under the banner of “military spending.”

As CND reported in March 2023, the government has now hiked military spending by another £5 billion over the next two years.

We currently have a situation here in Britain where billions are being spent on weapons of war, while at the same time millions of people are struggling with the cost of living.

It seems to me vitally important that the anti-war trade union network continues to call for negotiations and diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine.

The network also needs to stand firm against the reckless increases in military spending which the Tories are pushing ahead with.

Unfortunately, the Labour front-bench defence team at Westminster seems even more keen on massive military spending than the Tories are.

At a recent UCU conference, a sensible motion calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine was passed which gives us a way forward.

The motion called for Russian withdrawal from Ukraine. However, the motion also criticised Nato’s role in the conflict.

There is a need to get more discussion within trade union structures on the need to end this dreadful war in Ukraine. This is why the network will be putting out a bulletin over the next few weeks with suggestions for motions which can be debated within the trade union movement.

War is always bad news for working-class people who are always the majority of those killed, injured or displaced by armed conflict; this is why there is an urgent need for the trade union movement to be one of the main anti-war voices in the world today.

I would personally like to see the unions maximising pressure on the Tory government and the Labour Party to stop being a branch of US foreign policy — on the Ukraine war in particular.

Currently, both China and the African Union have put forward proposals focused on negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine.

Pressure needs to be put on the political class in Britain to listen to these proposals and examine whether they can be used in some way to stop the horror of this dreadful war.

To assist trade unionists and political representatives to think more imaginatively and sensibly on war and conflict issues, there is a range of organisations within the wider peace movement.

For example, Rethinking Security (rethinkingsecurity.org.uk) is a network of organisations, academics and activists who work for a just and peaceful world. The network looks at the underlying causes of conflict and insecurity.

Rethinking Security takes the view that the current approach to national security in Britain and beyond often works against efforts to bring about peace and justice in the world. It has a vision of security that is based on the wellbeing of people and the planet.

It is probably too late for the Tories to start listening to and consulting sensible organisations like Rethinking Security.

However, it might be an idea for the Labour shadow defence team to take a day off trying to outbid the Tories on military spending, and spend some time considering ideas from Rethinking Security and other parts of the peace movement.

The world is a difficult and dangerous place just now. We need imaginative ideas and clear analysis and vision from the peace movement and unions on how we progress towards a peaceful and safer world. Actually, we probably need someone like Alan Mackinnon.

Perhaps this point was best underlined by CND general secretary Kate Hudson in 2015 when she said: “If you want the strongest, clearest position on any issue of peace or war, from Trident and jobs, to Nato and global politics, Western intervention and illegal war, just ask Alan Mackinnon.”