Home  Media Press Releases Global Abolition Don't pre-empt disarmament talks with Trident replacement, says CND
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Don't pre-empt disarmament talks with Trident replacement, says CND |
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Friday, 10 July 2009 |
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has welcomed
Gordon Brown's comments in support of multilateral nuclear disarmament, made at
the G8 summit. But CND cautioned that continuing with Trident replacement
was already placing a costly obstacle in the way of achieving the aspirations
shared by Mr Brown, President Obama, and other world leaders. CND reiterated
the growing call for Trident to be included in the upcoming Defence Review.
Kate Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament, said "We welcome the many positive developments on reducing
nuclear tensions that have been sparked by Obama's meeting with Medvedev. Mr
Brown's comments form part of this, but the real test is whether he is prepared
to take the steps necessary to ensure Britain's pursuit of Trident
replacement doesn't end up damaging the chances of a multilateral deal.
"These next twelve months could be a real turning
point for disarmament and non-proliferation, with Obama's Washington summit in
March and the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference a month later. In this
context it seems perverse that the Government has specifically excluded Trident
from its upcoming Defence Review. Voices from across the political spectrum
have called for an urgent reassessment of the decision to plough ahead with the
£76bn Trident Replacement, not only as budgets come under increasing strain but
also given the global push towards full nuclear abolition. CND agrees with the
senior armed-forces figures who described Trident as 'militarily
useless'. At the very least the Review should be questioning the
maintenance of Britain's
Cold War posture: we have a nuclear-armed submarine on patrol and ready to
fire 365 days a year, regardless of international tensions. It is a disgrace
that Gordon Brown is set to release billions for new submarines during the
Parliamentary recess this September, against the recommendations of the Foreign
Affairs Committee and 160 back-benchers [notes 3 and 4], whilst at the same time
ignoring the chance to review the need for the system.
"The Prime Minister is also mistaken when he says 'the
whole point of the Non-Proliferation Treaty is that those people who have
weapons will be willing to reduce them as far as is possible' - the UK's
binding legal commitment under article VI of the NPT is to undertake complete
nuclear disarmament, not merely reductions to a lower level [see note 5]. If Britain is serious about convincing Iran and others
to buy-in to the NPT, we must not make false claims about our own end of the
bargain. Iran
has already cited Trident replacement as a major point of concern during NPT
negotiations [see note 6]. Britain
should not allow a hugely expensive relic of the Cold War to become the
sticking point which prevents defusing the crisis that could spark the next
major conflict. We don't need it, we can't afford it and we can contribute
better to a more peaceful world by scrapping it now."
- ends -
- For further information and
interviews please contact Ben Soffa, CND's Press Officer, on 0207 7002350 or
07968 420859
- The Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament (CND) is one of Europe's biggest single-issue peace campaigns, with
over 35,000 members in the UK. CND campaigns for the abolition of all nuclear
weapons everywhere. www.cnduk.org
- Parliament was promised in 2007
that they would have ample time for discussion of the new proposals for updating
Trident and yet decisions will be taken behind closed doors during the
Parliamentary recess this summer. EDM 660, signed by 160 MPs states that taking
the 'initial gate' decision during the recess "undermines the commitment made to
Parliament by the Foreign Secretary in March 2007; and requests that the Initial
Gate decision be delayed until Parliament is in session and can be presented
with the report for scrutiny." http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=37711&SESSION=899
- House of Commons Foreign Affairs
Committee report 'Global Security: Non-Proliferation' of 3rd June
2009 concludes "We recommend that the Government should not take any decision at
the Initial Gate stage until Parliament has had the chance to scrutinise the
matter in a debate." Page 9/10 and Paragraph 133, http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmfaff/222/222.pdf
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NPT Article VI: "Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to
pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation
of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a
Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective
international control."
http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/npt/text/npt2.htm
- "The decision of the United Kingdom to renew and further
develop its nuclear weapons capability, by approving the Trident Project, is
also in full contravention with Article VI of the NPT and in defiance with the
unanimous decision of the 2000 NPT Review Conference. The Trident Project can
generate and in fact expand nuclear arms race beyond the traditional rivalry
between the two most powerful nuclear weapon States, thus is a special source
of concern for the international community and is a clear set back for the
global efforts to bolster nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation."
Ali Reza Moaiyeri, Iranian Ambassador to the NPT
Preparatory Committee, 29th April 2008
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/prepcom08/statements/29AprilIran.pdf
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