THE Scottish Greens are calling for Scotland to sign up to the United Nations’ anti-nuclear weapons treaty once it becomes independent as signatory states meet for the first time.
States signed up to the Treaty On The Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) are meeting in Vienna next week and the Scottish Greens are making their support for the document clear.
Scottish Green MSP Ariane Burgess has proposed a motion to Holyrood that calls on the Scottish Parliament to condemn the UK Government’s refusal to sign the treaty and that Scotland signs up as soon as it becomes independent.
This comes following news that the convenor of the Scottish Parliament nuclear disarmament cross party group, SNP MSP Bill Kidd, will attend the Vienna conference and the specially convened meeting of global parliamentarians who are working for the adoption of the TPNW throughout the world.
Scottish Greens, along with counterparts in European Greens, have supported this position since the TPNW opened for signature in 2017. All Green MSPs, along with their SNP colleagues in Parliament and Government, have signed the parliamentarians' pledge to support the treaty.
Accession to the TPNW for an independent Scotland would mean an absolute prohibition on any nuclear weapons being held or used here as well as prohibiting their transit through Scotland or their deployment by any other state in Scottish territory.
Lorna Slater noted this when the TPNW entered into force in January last year.
She said: "The Scottish Greens believe that acceding to this treaty is one of the first things Scotland could do as an independent country, instantly rendering the nuclear weapons kept here illegal, and leading a new move to global nuclear disarmament."
Janet Fenton, Scottish liaison for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, commented: "At a time when the Scottish Parliamentarians are rightly focussed on the domestic situation, it is very gratifying to see that the Scottish parliamentarians across the house are still able to recognise the significance of the events taking place in Vienna and their critical implications for a world where nuclear escalation would be catastrophic for people and planet alike."
