A die-in is taking place outside Westminster Abbey today to protest a service in tribute to Britain’s nuclear deterrent system, organised by The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Protestors from Christian CND are gathering outside the Abbey with banners and placards reading “No Thanksgiving for Nuclear Weapons”. The protest comes in the wake of the planned National Service of Thanksgiving marking 50 years of Britain’s Continuous At Sea Deterrent, the nuclear weapons system. The service was signed by 194 Anglican clerics.

The die-in is said to represent the victims of nuclear warfare. The CND general secretary Kate Hudson has said that the Abbey “should listen to the thousands of members of the public who have written to the Dean to make clear what ought to be obvious, that nuclear weapons should not be celebrated.”

“We have failed to learn the lessons from August 6th and August 9th 1945, from Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” said a vicar speaking for Christian CND. “Forgive us for this insanity.”

There will be a CND rally from 1pm this afternoon.

Photos by Zubair Karmalkar