Press Release

Top UK group backs nuclear disarmament

Senior politicians and former generals call for a wider nuclear debate

Senior UK politicians and former generals have set up a group to push for multilateral nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, the group\’s convener announced in Washington today.

The cross-party group is made up of almost all of the former senior ministers of foreign affairs and defence over the last two decades and includes three former defence chiefs who served during that time.

Senior UK parliamentarians to discuss nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament

Cross-party delegation will talk with their US counterparts.

From next Tuesday (8 September 2009), the most senior cross-party parliamentary delegation focused on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation ever to visit Washington will be holding talks with key Senators and administration officials. Their meetings come at a critical and timely juncture with:

Obama at the UN

Obama\’s chairing of this historic UN Security Council session has increased the chances of success in moving towards the goal of a world without nuclear weapons, said Anne Penketh, Washington Program Director of the British American Security Information Council (BASIC).

Top diplomatic editor to head BASIC team in Washington

Anne Penketh has covered diplomatic and disarmament issues in the US, nuclear weapon states, Iran and North Korea

BASIC is pleased to announce that Anne Penketh, long-time Diplomatic Editor at The Independent in London, will be leading BASIC\’s Washington team working to promote nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Anne is an international journalist who has covered diplomatic and disarmament issues for many years with first hand, on-the-ground experience of the US, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Paul Ingram, Executive Director of BASIC, says: