Bill Kidd to Host Scottish Parliament Meeting on Non Proliferation and Nuclear Disarmament

Glasgow SNP MSP Bill Kidd will host a meeting in the Scottish Parliament as a counterpoint to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s 55th Annual Session which is to be hosted by the UK Government in Edinburgh from Friday 13th to Tuesday 17th November.

The event, which has been organised by Mr Kidd, will take place in the Scottish Parliament on Friday 13th November, on the day that the NATO Assembly’s session begins.

The aim of the Scottish Parliament event is to reiterate a continued commitment to non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament and to discuss, from a critical perspective, the role of nuclear weapons in NATO’s military strategy.

The issues that will be discussed are the present nuclear policies of NATO and how these conflict with the legal obligations of the signatories of the Non-Proliferation Treaty

Amongst those attending are Alyn Ware, Global Coordinator of Parliamentarians for Nuclear-Non Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND; Senator Kox, for the Social Party in the Dutch Senate; Isobel Lindsay, Convenor of Scotland’s For Peace; John Ainslie, Coordinator for Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, as well as other international parliamentarians and representatives of civic organisations.

Speaking and chairing the event, Mr Kidd intends to provide a Scottish perspective on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and to reaffirm the Scottish Parliament’s continued commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

Commenting on the upcoming meeting, Bill Kidd said:

“This counterpoint meeting will provide a forum for parliamentarians and representatives of civic society, from the world over, to critically discuss the nuclear policies of NATO.

“It is my intention to reiterate the commitment of the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Government and the Scottish National Party to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

“Under the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which the UK is a signatory, the UK is required to take steps towards achieving nuclear disarmament.

“Under the current Labour Government, we have seen nothing to suggest that this will happen. Since the 60s the UK’s nuclear arsenal has been under the assignment of NATO, as indeed any replacement for Trident would be. For nuclear disarmament in Scotland to be discussed practicably, so must the role of nuclear weaponry in NATO’s nuclear strategy.