At 12 noon on Thursday, the Abingdon Peace Group gathered in the Market Place to mark five years since the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons became international law, in January 2021.
Back in 2021, with Covid about, the group held a socially distanced event in a mostly deserted Market Place.
This week’s gathering echoed that earlier moment, but without the masks. Progress has been made since the treaty came into force. 74 nation states — more than half the countries of the world — have ratified it. The UK has not signed up.
Behind the treaty stands the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Its campaigning helped bring the treaty into being, and in 2017 ICAN’s work was recognised with the Nobel Peace Prize. More information is available at www.icanw.org.
What a useless treaty. Countries are racing to develop the most deadly nuclear weapons possible. We have North Korea, Pakistan, India, Russia, China. And for Ukraine who gave up their nuclear weapons Russia invaded despite signing a treaty to pledge that they would not. We have our poor and homeless sleeping on our streets and yet we are giving Pakistan and India UK taxpayers foreign aid. These countries poured money into developing nuclear weapons. Many think that nuclear weapons act as a deterrent with countries reticent to attack in case they are attacked in return with nuclear weapons.
The treaty is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. None of the major nuclear powers, whole of EU and UK have not signed up to it.
Why don’t these people spend their time actually doing something useful for people in need?
If they feel it is important and profiles the issue they (like the rest of us) can spend their time how they choose.
The peace group are an absolute waste of time.