Friends lobby against nuclear weapon increase
‘National churches condemned the government’s plans when they were announced in March, but we thought it important that MPs also heard the concerns of their constituents about the plans.'
Churches in Stratford-upon-Avon have sent a letter to the town’s MP, expressing their concerns about government plans to expand Britain’s arsenal of nuclear weapons by forty per cent.
The preparation of the letter was coordinated by Stratford-upon-Avon Quakers through their membership of the town’s Churches Together forum.
The letter claims that Britain’s nuclear arsenal is already equivalent to 1,200 of the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. It goes on to say that, for the last fifty years, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has restricted the increase in the number of nuclear weapons worldwide, but the government’s proposal puts those gains in jeopardy and weakens collective action on non-proliferation.
Roger Matthews, Stratford Quakers’ representative on the Churches Together forum, said: ‘National churches condemned the government’s plans when they were announced in March, but we thought it important that MPs also heard the concerns of their constituents about the plans. Not all churches have signed, but those which have represent a broad and substantial proportion of the town’s churches.’
Stratford Quakers said they are happy to share the text of the letter with other Meetings that might want to take the issue up with their MPs. Friends can contact roger.matthews@phonecoop.coop for more details.
