THE recent terror attacks in Camden followed in a “direct line” from America’s nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, campaigners claimed on Saturday.
A crowd of 200 anti-nuclear protesters including former Labour Party leader Michael Foot and Camden Mayor Barbara Hughes gathered in Tavistock Square, Bloomsbury – less than 100 yards from the scene of the July 7 bus bombing – to mark the 60th anniversary of the dropping of the first atom bomb.
Standing in the shade of a cherry tree planted in the square in 1967 by former mayor Millie Miller, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament’s leader, Kate Hudson, said: “The dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima marked a new disregard for civilian lives of which the recent attacks on London are just another symptom.
“They are linked by a direct line – as soon as you accept that there are no restrictions in war you end up with what we had last month.”
Bruce Kent, also of CND, won loud applause when he said: “You cannot win a war on terror with nuclear weapons.
“The only answer to terrorism is to deal with the causes of terrorism.”
And speaking about the recent G8 protests, he added: “You cannot make poverty history unless you make war history.”
Commenting on planned legislation to remove Islamic preachers who condone terrorism, Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North, said: “We must not give up our civil liberties in our attempts to tackle terrorism.”