UK avoids UN nuclear disarmament event
At least two Quakers signed a letter from the United Nations Association UK asking the British government to send an observer to the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
The UK government failed again to send a British representative to a nuclear disarmament conference at the United Nations this month.
At least two Quakers signed a letter from the United Nations Association UK (UNA-UK) asking the British prime minister and foreign secretary to send an observer to the Third Meeting of States Parties (3MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The event was held in New York from 3 to 7 March.
Richard Outram, secretary of the UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities, said: ‘The invitation was not taken up as the meeting has been boycotted by Britain and the other eight nuclear weapons states, which continue to refuse to engage with the treaty despite around half of the UN’s membership – 94 states – having become signatories to it, with 73 also having completed formal ratification.’
Philip Austin, coordinator of the Northern Friends Peace Board, and John Cooper, director of the Quaker-founded Fellowship of Reconciliation, both signed the letter, which was addressed to Keir Starmer and David Lammy.
