Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre

The Edinburgh Peace and Justice Resource Centre welcomes the forming of a new and influential group of former UK Government ministers and senior military officers to work towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons. The lead has been taken by Des Browne, himself a recent Minister of Defence, and includes the former Foreign Secretaries Margaret Beckett and Malcolm Rifkind, as well as less surprising recruits like Shirley Williams.
The inspiration comes from the initiative taken by US elder statesmen like Sam Nunn and Henry Kissinger, who have called for the elimination of nuclear weapons as a matter of urgency. This initiative has been endorsed by President Obama, and is at least an element in current US foreign policy.
Last year, following a conference which formed part of the First Minister's Conversations, the Scottish Government set up a working group to look at Scotland Without Nuclear Weapons. It aimed to examine how the legality (or rather the illegality) of nuclear weapons affected the policy of the devolved administration of Scotland, and also how Scotland could contribute to the development of an international role in peace and reconciliation work. In addition it was to consider environmental impact and the impact that the absence of nuclear weapons would have on jobs. The fact that banning the bomb has now become the concern of senior politicians and soldiers means that the time is more than ripe for Scotland’s Working Group to report on its findings. The situation is developing fast, and the prospects for nuclear disarmament are, for the time being, better than they have ever been. But it is essential to grasp the opportunity while it lasts.
The Peace and Justice Centre looks forward to the publication of the Working Group' s findings and the Scottish Government's plans following the group' s report. We hope that the Scottish Parliament will support Des Browne in his new role and encourage the Parliament at Westminster to do likewise.

More information at:
www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/swnw-working-group/meetings/2009/april... and www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/08/nuclear-disarmament-cross-party-gro... and www.totalpolitics.com/blogs/