Help Africa by ‘ending commercial trade in arms’

-30/11/06

One of the best ways to h


Help Africa by ‘ending commercial trade in arms’

-30/11/06

One of the best ways to help Africa is to stop the Arms Trade.

This will be part of a call on the Ministry of Defence by the Most Rev Dr Idris Jones, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, when he presents a Petition containing about 20,000 signatures calling for the government not to invest in a replacement for Trident, and to begin the process of decommissioning nuclear weapons.

The Petition will be handed to the Ministry of Defence in London tomorrow – Friday 1 December.

The Primus will say: “The Churches in Scotland have consistently spoken out against the use of nuclear armaments. A wider issue is that of the arms trade in general which generates huge sums for the economy but puts into the hands of irresponsible and brutal men weapons that they use to kill, maim and torture others. It fuels on-going violence in many nations across the world – Christian partners in Africa say that the best help we could give them is to stop the arms trade.

“We have discovered the will to prevent smoking from ruining the lives of non-smokers by ending smoking in public areas; when will the world’s governments have the same will to prevent the arms trade from causing suffering to hundreds and thousands of people around the world?”

Joining the Primus in presenting the Petition to the Ministry of Defence will be the Rt Rev Alan McDonald, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and Richard McCready of the Scottish Catholic Church.

Members of the Scottish Episcopal Church joined in the recent Long Walk for Peace – an 85 mile walk from Faslane to the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish churchesí petition was launched in May and followed a statement made the previous month by Scotlandís eight Roman Catholic bishops voicing firm opposition to replacing Trident. ìThe use of weapons of mass destruction would be a crime against God and against humanity [and] it must never happen,î the bishops said.

Last year, British church leaders wrote a letter to the Guardian newspaper urging the Government to spell out the conditions under which it might forego a replacement of Trident.

In September religious leaders, campaigners and trade union activists on The Long Walk for Peace, an 85 mile trek from Faslane to the Scottish Parliament that aimed to highlight the issue of nuclear weapons. Four Trident nuclear submarines have been based at Faslane on the Clyde as part of Britainís nuclear deterrent.

The opposition of Scotlandís churches to a Trident replacement follows similar moves by other UK church groups in recent months.

Earlier this month, the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) passed a resolution opposing Tridentís replacement and calling on the Government to play a lead role in disarmament negotiations. The debate, which took place at The Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire, highlighted ëthe fundamental moral and ethical reasonsí for not replacing the nuclear weapons as well as pointing to financial concerns. The resolution encouraged local churches to contact MPs to express their opposition.

Meanwhile, in June the Methodist Conference voted to oppose the replacement of Trident and urged the Government to take the lead in disarmament negotiations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. A few days ago Methodists reiterated their opposition to a replacement for Trident.

However, UK Chancellor Gordon Brown, whose commitment to issues such as cancelling debts in the developing world has made him popular among Christians, has said that he was committed to ensuring Britain retained its independent nuclear weapons.


Help Africa by ‘ending commercial trade in arms’

-30/11/06

One of the best ways to help Africa is to stop the Arms Trade.

This will be part of a call on the Ministry of Defence by the Most Rev Dr Idris Jones, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, when he presents a Petition containing about 20,000 signatures calling for the government not to invest in a replacement for Trident, and to begin the process of decommissioning nuclear weapons.

The Petition will be handed to the Ministry of Defence in London tomorrow – Friday 1 December.

The Primus will say: “The Churches in Scotland have consistently spoken out against the use of nuclear armaments. A wider issue is that of the arms trade in general which generates huge sums for the economy but puts into the hands of irresponsible and brutal men weapons that they use to kill, maim and torture others. It fuels on-going violence in many nations across the world – Christian partners in Africa say that the best help we could give them is to stop the arms trade.

“We have discovered the will to prevent smoking from ruining the lives of non-smokers by ending smoking in public areas; when will the world’s governments have the same will to prevent the arms trade from causing suffering to hundreds and thousands of people around the world?”

Joining the Primus in presenting the Petition to the Ministry of Defence will be the Rt Rev Alan McDonald, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and Richard McCready of the Scottish Catholic Church.

Members of the Scottish Episcopal Church joined in the recent Long Walk for Peace – an 85 mile walk from Faslane to the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish churchesí petition was launched in May and followed a statement made the previous month by Scotlandís eight Roman Catholic bishops voicing firm opposition to replacing Trident. ìThe use of weapons of mass destruction would be a crime against God and against humanity [and] it must never happen,î the bishops said.

Last year, British church leaders wrote a letter to the Guardian newspaper urging the Government to spell out the conditions under which it might forego a replacement of Trident.

In September religious leaders, campaigners and trade union activists on The Long Walk for Peace, an 85 mile trek from Faslane to the Scottish Parliament that aimed to highlight the issue of nuclear weapons. Four Trident nuclear submarines have been based at Faslane on the Clyde as part of Britainís nuclear deterrent.

The opposition of Scotlandís churches to a Trident replacement follows similar moves by other UK church groups in recent months.

Earlier this month, the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) passed a resolution opposing Tridentís replacement and calling on the Government to play a lead role in disarmament negotiations. The debate, which took place at The Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire, highlighted ëthe fundamental moral and ethical reasonsí for not replacing the nuclear weapons as well as pointing to financial concerns. The resolution encouraged local churches to contact MPs to express their opposition.

Meanwhile, in June the Methodist Conference voted to oppose the replacement of Trident and urged the Government to take the lead in disarmament negotiations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. A few days ago Methodists reiterated their opposition to a replacement for Trident.

However, UK Chancellor Gordon Brown, whose commitment to issues such as cancelling debts in the developing world has made him popular among Christians, has said that he was committed to ensuring Britain retained its independent nuclear weapons.