The campaign against nuclear weapons comes to Holyrood today with a meeting of the Nuclear weapons Convention in the Scottish Parliament.
The meeting, which marks the Scottish launch of the campaign, will hear from representatives including former New Zealand disarmament minister Marion Hobbs and Rebecca Johnson, Vice Chair of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
The campaign against nuclear weapons comes to Holyrood today with a meeting of the Nuclear weapons Convention in the Scottish Parliament.
The meeting, which marks the Scottish launch of the campaign, will hear from representatives including former New Zealand disarmament minister Marion Hobbs and Rebecca Johnson, Vice Chair of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Shetland Islands Convener Sandy Cluness of the Mayors for Peace campaign will also take part.
SNP MSP Bill Kidd, who represented Scotland at the Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference in New York earlier this year said:
“Today’s event marks the UN “International Day of Peace” and this is a fitting way to mark it.
“Scotland holds a pivotal place in the world wide discussion over weapons of mass destruction.
“It is a privilege to co-host this event attended by world renowned speakers who are bringing their knowledge and expertise on nuclear disarmament and the global debate to Scotland.
“As the UK Government twists and turns over the replacement of Trident this meeting is sending out a clear message that nuclear weapons are morally and economically wrong and that the replacement of Trident not only risks damaging Scotland’s economy but damaging our role in the world.”
The BBC recently reported that the Government could delay making a decision on whether to go ahead with the replacement of the four missile-carrying submarines – due to be announced in 2014 – until after the election in 2015.
Projected costs for a replacement to Trident have been put as high as £25billion by some commentators reaching £100billion over its lifetime. Four senior military commanders recently claimed that replacing the nuclear weapons system would divert funding away from the rest of the armed forces.
It is estimated that the nuclear weapons system supports less than 1000 jobs on the Clyde.