The Times yesterday carried an opinion piece Start worrying and learn to ditch the bomb from four former UK government ministers, which states, in part that ...
"There is a powerful case for a dramatic reduction in the stockpile of nuclear weapons. A new historic initiative is needed but it will only succeed by working collectively and through multilateral institutions. ..... Substantial progress towards a dramatic reduction in the world's nuclear weapons is possible. The ultimate aspiration should be to have a world free of nuclear weapons. [my emphasis] It will take time, but with political will and improvements in monitoring, the goal is achievable. We must act before it is too late, and we can begin by supporting the campaign in America for a non-nuclear weapons world. "
The writers of this forcefully argued piece are George Robertson, Douglas Hurd, Malcolm Rifkind and David Owen (I hope they will excuse my Quakerly non-use of their titles). A statement from BASIC sees this as a real breakthrough, building as it does on a similar call from former members of US governments last year. I've not spotted much response or comment on this from other parts of the press so far. It does seem to provide a very useful tool for engaging again with our elected representatives and current government ministers on this issue, however. It is very welcome that this article has appeared - I look forward to seeing a similar comment from members of a current government before too long.
