STOP PRESS: Message from CND UK Parliamentary Officer Russell Whiting:

A Parliamentary Question was answered yesterday (17th) which appears to harden the government’s opposition to the ban treaty further. Nuclear Weapons: Written question Asked by Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North). To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his oral Answer of 10 July 2017, Official Report, column 23, to the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran, for what reasons it is Government policy that the nuclear ban treaty should not apply to the UK.  Answered by: Sir Michael Fallon                                                                                                                                                      The UK will never sign, ratify or become party to the treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons. We do not believe that it will bring us closer to a world without nuclear weapons as it fails to address the key issues that must first be overcome to achieve lasting global nuclear disarmament. We consider that the best way to achieve a world without nuclear weapons is through gradual multilateral disarmament negotiated using a step-by-step approach within existing international frameworks. The UK continues to work towards global nuclear disarmament through the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2017-07-12/4753/

Scottish CND have also issued a Statement and this can be found in the main post.

 MAIN POST:

CND visited Downing Street today to deliver over 7000 letters you wrote to Theresa May, calling on her government to sign up to the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons.
They’ve made a short video about the day so you can see what happened. They’re expecting a response to the letters from the government soon and will let us know when they hear back.
But it’s vital that we keep the pressure up. Please share the link with your contacts asking them to tell Theresa May to support the ban treaty.

Following the adoption of the UN Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons, Arthur West, Chair of Scottish CND, has made the following statement on our behalf,
Scottish CND will continue to work with our partners in the Peace Movement to follow up the recent historic vote by 122 nations to adopt a global treaty banning nuclear weapons.The treaty is open for signatures on September 20 and will enter into international law after 50 nations have signed it. Nations signing it must ratify by putting it into their own national legal system through their own parliamentary and decision making processes. Given the overwhelming support for the treaty at the recent Conference set up by United Nations to create it, the threshold for its entry into law will easily be reached.
It remains disappointing that the nuclear armed states continue to be opposed to signing the treaty, which will have a practical impact on their operations regardless of their membership of the Security Council.
Past experience with other Weapons of Mass Destruction shows that elimination follows on from a legal ban and this treaty will make any nuclear weapon activity illegal.
It will also stigmatise nuclear weapons , making use, transportation , stockpiling or facilitation illegal, which makes it harder for states outside the treaty to justify their position.’
Elayne Whyte Gomez from Costa Rica who was president of the sessions which discussed the treaty summed up its importance when she said-
We have managed to sow the first seeds of a world free of nuclear weapons . We are saying to our children that it is possible to inherit a world free from nuclear weapons.’ 

UNFOLDZERO  explained: The nuclear-armed and allied States opposed the treaty and none are likely to join. As such they are not bound by its provisions, and will not be directly affected by it. However, the new treaty could be used to impact on the policies and practices of the nuclear armed States and their allies in two key ways:                                                                                                 1. through national implementation measures that prohibit financing and transit of nuclear weapons.                                              2. by putting political pressure on these States to adopt nuclear risk reduction and disarmament measures, including through the Non-Proliferation Treaty process and at the 2018 UN High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament.

Abolition 2000 adds the the Parliamentary Action Plan for a nuclear free world notes that ‘Parliamentarians also have a role to encourage their colleagues in States that have not joined the treaty to do so.‘ And the Action Plan identifies the 2018 UN High Level Conference (HLC) as a unique opportunity to elevate the ban treaty. States could announce their ratification of the treaty at the HLC and encourage other countries to sign and ratify..

Bulletin 231: Dr. Strangelove and the Los Alamos Nuclear FiascoThe title of this Bulletin – the first of two or three short bulletins we hope to get to you this week – is taken from a July 13 article in The American Conservative (TAC) by managing editor Kelley Vlahos. We recommend it.                                                                                                          4. WALKATJURRA WALKABOUT Australia also notes July 7 this year marked a historical day around the world as the United Nations adopted a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons.  The very worst of weapons of mass destruction are banned as 122 countries said ‘yes’ to humanity. See earlier posts for more of their work.                                  +++++5. Scottish CND would like to draw your attention to the following forthcoming activities you may wish to take part in:

• Scottish CND street stall on Thursday July 27 at Donald Dewar statue between 3 pm – 430 pm.
• Scottish Peace Network anti-war vigil on Thursday July 27 at Donald Dewar statue between 5pm – 6pm.
• The ‘War on Terror’ in an Era of Crisis: a Critical Response. One day conference 5th August in Glasgow from the newly formed New Foreign policy