International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

London (ICAN)
With the 2010 review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in its sights, a new international nuclear disarmament commission led by two former foreign ministers is scheduled to begin work in October.

A petition has been prepared by Medact and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament urging the Government to abandon the Trident weapons replacement and promote a Nuclear Weapons Convention to facilitate the elimination of nuclear weapons by 2020.

Commemorations around the globe were held August 6 and 9, marking the 63rd anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively.

"... the only role for nuclear weapons is to be abolished."

- Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, August 6, 2008.

Early Day Motion 72 asks the UK Government to work to achieve progress on multilateral negotiations for achieving implementation of a Nuclear Weapons Convention by 2020.

Find out here if your Member of Parliament has signed Early Day Motion 72.

Some of Britain's most influential statesmen including former foreign secretaries and a NATO secretary-general have backed the call by former US secretaries of state George Shultz and Henry Kissinger for nuclear weapons abolition.

An ICAN forum in London attracted members of Medact, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Pugwash, Abolition 2000, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Acronym Institute, British American Security Information Council (BASIC), Pax Cristi, Pugwash, and Abolition 2000.

All groups are passionate about ICAN and plans are underway to ensure this campaign is able to carry the message of nuclear abolition throughout the UK.