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CND welcomes new top-level disarmament group |
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Wednesday, 09 September 2009 |
The
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament today welcomed the formation of a new grouping
of ex-ministers and retired senior military officers calling for multilateral
nuclear disarmament. The group, which echoes that formed by former US Secretary
of State Henry Kissinger, is part of a growing movement of senior politicians
from across the political spectrum who are highlighting the urgency of moving
towards a world free of nuclear weapons. [see note
3]
The announcement of the group's formation comes at a time of renewed
debate about the £76bn project to replace the UK's Trident nuclear weapons
system. A ComRes/Independent opinion poll released yesterday yet again showed a
majority of voters in favour of scrapping Trident by 58 to 35%. [see note
4]
The 'Top Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear
Disarmament and Non-Proliferation' includes former Labour ministers Des Browne,
Margaret Beckett, John Reid and Lord Robertson; senior Conservatives Malcolm
Rifkind and Michael Ancram; and three former chiefs of the defence staff,
General Lord Guthrie, Field Marshal Lord Inge and Admiral Lord Boyce. Liberal
Democrat peer Shirley Williams, an internationally acknowledged expert in this
area, will also join the group.
Kate Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for
Nuclear Disarmament, said "The formation of such a high-level coalition
underlines the urgency of the task facing governments, the UK included, to
ensure progress on disarmament. Serious steps must be taken towards disarmament
otherwise we will see the further spread of these most dangerous of weapons. The
cross-party nature of this group shows how nuclear disarmament is taken
increasingly seriously across the political spectrum. It is now vital that the
leaders of the parties represented in this group also fully support its
goals."
"We strongly support the group's goal of reaching a common
European position on the withdrawal of the remaining 200 US nuclear weapons in
Europe. Rapidly reaching a consensus on this could feed into the current
re-writing of NATO's 'strategic concept'. The 'sharing' of US nuclear weapons
with Germany, Belgium Holland, Italy and Turkey contradicts both the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty and NATO's international non-proliferation policy. Any
efforts which secure the removal of these weapons will be a positive step
towards reducing tensions and de-nuclearising
NATO."
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