SCOTTISH Secretary Ian Murray is failing to keep to a pledge he signed to work towards the abolition of nuclear weapons, the chief executive of the Nobel Prize-winning organisation behind it has said.
In an exclusive interview with The National, which will be available to watch in full on Saturday, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) chief executive Melissa Parke also addressed Ian Blackford’s calls for the SNP to change its nuclear policy, and the UK Government’s failure to live up to its obligations under international treaties.
ICAN – which scooped the top peace award in 2017 for its work – has been asking parliamentarians globally to sign a pledge to push for the total elimination of “inhumane and abhorrent” nuclear weapons.
Like the majority of SNP parliamentarians, Scottish Secretary Murray had signed the pledge in support of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) – and last month reiterated that support.
However, this week he U-turned, agreeing with Scottish Labour MP Joani Reid that scrapping nuclear weapons would be “reckless” and “significantly threaten our national security”.
Responding to a separate MP during Scottish Questions at Westminster on Wednesday, Murray added: “Scotland needs all of its political leaders to proudly stand up for our defence industry. Scotland has led the UK on defence. It's been home to its nuclear deterrent since the 1960s.”
Read Murray’s words, ICAN chief executive Parke was asked if they were compatible with his pledge to her organisation.
“No,” she said.
“I think there needs to be a bit of calm reflection happening, a few deep breaths and start to think about what is really going to help Europe's security, collective security.
“That's going to be having Europe as a nuclear-weapons-free zone essentially as part of a global nuclear-weapons-free zone.
“Dialogue and diplomacy and disarmament, that's where Europe's security lies, not in this increasing confrontation and militarisation and proliferation that can only lead to a one way downward spiral to annihilation.”
Parke, a former Australian government minister for international development, was further asked about former SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford’s calls for his party to shift on nuclear policy.
The SNP has a long-standing policy of unilateral disarmament, where an independent Scotland would refuse to host, fund, or use nuclear weapons in line with the TPNW – which it also supports.
However, this week Blackford called for the party to shift to a policy of multilateral disarmament – where Scotland would only see nukes removed from its soil when the world’s nuclear nations all agreed to give up the weaponry.
She said the TPNW allows for either unilateral or multilateral disarmament, so both policies would be compatible with the treaty.
However, Parke added: “You don't need other countries to do it, to say you're going to do the right thing.
“Do we have to wait for every country to end slavery, or to end torture, to decide not to do it ourselves?”
She went on: “That being said, obviously 90% of the nuclear weapons are held by the United States and Russia, and it would be very good if those countries were to take the lead and to begin to dismantle their nuclear weapons.
“Indeed, we've just had President Trump repeating, saying over a number of months now, including yesterday [Thursday], repeating these comments that he wants to see all nuclear weapons eliminated.
“Of course we want to see action rather than words, but that's very positive.
“It's positive for world leaders in nuclear-armed states to be talking about getting rid of their nuclear weapons, so bring it on.”
The National’s full interview with ICAN chief executive Melissa Parke will be published on Saturday, March 8.
