Rhys Munro’s account of the Parliamentarian’s Conference at the 3rd Meeting of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. These parliamentarians (including Bill Kidd MSP) are from states which have not yet joined the Treaty. As you walk into Conference Room 8 in the basement of the UN Headquarters, the…
A meaningful and inspiring event took place on Tuesday, December 10thin the form of a torchlight procession from The Scottish Parliament to Queen Elizabeth House to mark the Nobel Peace prize celebrations in Oslo, and reaffirm Scotland’s commitment to nuclear disarmament. This year the Nobel Peace Prize was won by Nihon Hidankyo, the Japanese Confederation of A- and H- Bomb Sufferers…
“Describe the strategic, threat, and operational context for UK Defence 2024- 2050” This is the first question in the online survey and in itself it could represent the raw data for a doctoral study on conventional security thinking. The full survey runs on for another 700 words, all of it set within predictably restricted parameters.…
The 2nd Meeting of States Parties (2MSP) to the TPNW takes place at the UN in New York from 27 November-1 December. There will be civil society participation, including a number of campaigners from the UK. Against a grim background of unbridled and destructive violence the TPNW is strengthening and growing in credibility. There are…
On Monday 27th Janet Fenton of Secure Scotland spoke to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) with a particular focus on Scotland’s predicament arising from the UK’s nuclear weapons. The text of her evidence is below: “Statement by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear…
“I saw how new ideas often travel from the margins and the shadows to the centre, to the limelight where people – judges, presidents, prime ministers, international bodies – make decisions.” Rebecca Solnit Sunday 22nd January is the second anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).…
Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the campaign that has worked with the diplomats of supporting states to establish the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)1 which entered into force as a UN treaty in January 2021, is to step down from her role. When ICAN was…
The nations who gathered for the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) have failed to agree an outcome statement, with Russia shamelessly wrecking any hope of a consensus with its objection to a reference to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Ray Acheson of Reaching Critical Will sets that in context in her excellent…
Right now, at the United Nation in New York, a Review Conference for the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) is taking place. These conferences are due to be held every 5 years but this one was delayed due to the Covid pandemic. The Conference has two main tasks – 1) to check on progress (if any)…
Tim Wallis, ED of Nuclear Ban US reports from Vienna We have just finished the first round of Nuclear Ban Week in Vienna, with two days of the ICAN nuclear ban forum. We have been over 600 people here in Vienna, with 50 events and over 100 speakers over two days. We have heard via…