PEACE campaigners marked the 79th anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bombing today by holding vigils to honour the hundreds of thousands of victims of the US atrocity.

CND general secretary Kate Hudson said: “It’s been 79 years since the nuclear atrocities committed by the US on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Each year we gather to commemorate and mourn the dead, and remember those afflicted with a lifetime of suffering.

“We pledge never to let such crimes be committed again. Now we must deliver  on this pledge.

“The threat of nuclear war has never been higher. With a new nuclear arms race under way, amid threats of nuclear use, we must step up to spread our message, and escalate our work for peace, cooperation, and disarmament.”

A spokeswoman for Momentum said: “The US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were among the most appalling atrocities of the 20th century, for which there is no moral justification.

“The only way to make certain such crimes are not repeated is to commit fully to a world free of nuclear weapons, which would free up resources to vital priorities such as health, education, poverty reduction and a just transition.”

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said the world must commit to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

“The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were among the most appalling and inhumane atrocities ever committed,” he said.

“Yet it is almost 80 years later and there are far more nuclear warheads in the world than there were then, and the ones we have today, including here in Scotland, are even more powerful. It is a moral obscenity.

“Labour says they cannot afford to scrap the cruel child benefit cap or keep the Winter Fuel Allowance for millions of pensioners, but they have a bottomless money pit for nuclear weapons.

“The eye-watering sums that are being poured into Trident would be far better spent lifting children and families out of poverty and tackling the climate crisis, which is the greatest security threat we face.”