Dear Friend,
The Government has announced a 40% increase in Britain's nuclear arsenal - I'm sure you're as appalled by this news as I am.
Today the arsenal stands at around 200 nuclear warheads, each about eight times the power of the Hiroshima bomb. How can Boris Johnson conceivably justify that arsenal, never mind increasing it?
A key question being asked across media and parliament is: is it legal? The answer is a resounding No. Increasing Britain's nuclear arsenal contravenes our legal obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which Britian ratified in 1970. The NPT requires countries that have nuclear weapons to disarm, and those that don't have them not to acquire them. There is no way in which increasing a nuclear arsenal is legitimate under the treaty.
Johnson's decision to increase Britain's nuclear arsenal is a serious problem. It's not just that we would rather the money was spent on something more useful; or that this flagrant breach of the NPT may encourage others to pursue nuclear weapons; it's a question of what kind of world we want to see, what role we want Britain to play and what it actually stands for. Rearming with weapons of mass destruction is not something that we can accept.
I know that this is not the kind of world that you want. CND will be actively campaigning to stop this illegal action on the part of the Government. We'll be calling on all our members to get active, lobby MPs and, when we can, collectively demonstrate to not only oppose this increase, but to stop Trident altogether.
Will you join CND and help us campaign for a nuclear-free world?
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