THE CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT (CND) has launched a new campaign –Talks not Bombs – to get Britain to attend a crucial nuclear disarmament conference.

The First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), will take place in Vienna in March 2022.

Entering into force a year ago, the TPNW provides the first legally binding framework to ban nuclear weapons and is receiving increasing support internationally.

1MSP is a significant opportunity for the UK government to honour its long held commitment to a world without nuclear weapons. But at present, the government is refusing to engage with the Treaty in spite of the fact that a number of other NATO states will participate in 1MSP as observers.

Over the coming weeks, disarmament campaigners will be urging the UK government to attend the conference in Vienna as observers and join this crucial global dialogue.

Alexander Kmentt, President-designate of the 1st Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW said: “The TPNW is based on very profound arguments on the devastating humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and the very considerable risks that these weapons and the practice of nuclear deterrence entails for all humanity. While one can agree or disagree with the legal aspect of the TPNW, there is no reason not to engage constructively with the international community on these very serious arguments and the worrying implications they have for the notion of an international security architecture that is based on nuclear deterrence.”

Kate Hudson, CND General Secretary said: “In these turbulent times it is crucial that Britain does everything it can to de-escalate global tension and back talks not bombs. The British government cannot continue to ignore the global majority’s call to abolish these weapons, not least because a majority of the British population also supports that goal. Polling shows that 59 per cent of the UK public want the UK government to sign the TPNW.  It is time for the government to take concrete steps towards a nuclear weapons-free world.”

* More about the Nuclear Ban Conference here.

1MSP fact sheet here.

* Source: CND