Evidence submitted by Nuclear Free Local Authorities

DECEMBER 2011

It is the NFLA’s view that now, over twenty years since the end of the Cold War, the risks of a nuclear weapons attack remains higher than ever, and the concerns over increased nuclear weapons proliferation are becoming ever more pressing. The NFLA is concerned that states like Iran and North Korea are particularly wishing to possess nuclear weapons because they feel directly threatened by the Nuclear Weapons States, and they see possession of such weapons as an effective deterrent preventing an attack on them. By signalling that they apparently intend to retain their weapons indefinitely, states possessing nuclear weapons are providing an incentive for insecure states to develop their own nuclear weapons, with the attendant proliferation risks.

The NFLA remains puzzled as to what the UK’s ‘independent nuclear deterrent’ actually deters the UK from. It has not stopped widespread terrorist attacks killing many people on UK soil, whether due to the earlier campaigns of the IRA or recent ‘Al Qaeda’ attacks and near misses across our major cities.

…the NFLA does not believe the UK should remain as a nuclear weapon state but rather develop an international nuclear weapons convention and move towards eventual and complete nuclear weapons disarmament. All other potential ‘alternatives’ to Trident renewal fall by the same hurdle of international law and the ultimate aim of the NPT.

Click the link below to view the full document.

Attachment(s)

Share This

Copy Link to Clipboard

Copy