The Real Nuclear Threat

Kate Hudson, CND chair, has been to New York to report on the recent 5-year review of the Non Proliferation Treaty. In an article in Socialist Campaign Group News she warns of how the treaty is being manipulated by the nuclear powers, focusing entirely on supposed non-compliance by Iran and North Korea, using the treaty as a pretext for possible belligerence, whilst ignoring their own obligation under the same treaty to take steps to get rid of their own nuclear weapons.

She comments that whilst CND is opposed to nuclear power, there is no doubt that Iran has the right under the treaty to peaceful nuclear technology for power production.

‘The real problem of non-compliance comes from quite a different quarter. Article six of the treaty calls for moves towards nuclear disarmament by existing nuclear weapons states. . . . No progress has been made on this by the nuclear states. Clearly, the US, UK and others’ failure to disarm are serious instances of non-compliance. Indeed, the US and UK have tried to shift the goalposts of the treaty to ignore the fact that disarmament is a requirement and focus solely on preventing proliferation. . . . CND strongly opposes this approach, because the focus on only one sidfe of the equation will cause resentment and insecurity amongst non-nuclear weapons states and, in an increasingly unstable world, may well provoke the very proliferation which we seek to avoid.’

Kate goes on to point out that Britain (or rather, ex-CND member Tony Blair) seems intent on pre-empting the debate which must take place in the coming parliamentary session on whether to scrap Trident or replace it , and has perhaps already decided on further research on a new generation of British nuclear weapons.

‘Double standards and hypocrisy will not lead to a stable and peaceful world. CND urges all MPs to take the Trident replacement issue extremely seriously and oppose it as strongly as possible.’