Letters: British nuclear doctrine rejected
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: I sat in the International Court of Justice while it ruled that the threat or use of nuclear weapons was illegal under international law. From a British point of view, the ruling was even more significant. It was a specific and direct rejection of British nuclear doctrine ("World closer to banning the bomb", 9 July).
In ruling that "the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict", it added that because of current state of international law, it could not "conclude definitely whether the threat or use of nuclear weapons would be lawful or unlawful in an extreme circumstance of self-defence in which the very survival of a state would be at stake".
This directly rules out British policy behind the deployment of its nuclear weapons. According to Malcolm Rifkind, Trident has been deployed to protect Britain's "vital interests". The 1996 Defence White Paper states Britain's nuclear arsenal is deployed "in the defence of our supreme national interests". This is a far cry from "an extreme circumstance of self-defence in which the very survival of a State would be at stake". Moreover, the Court also reminded Britain and the other nuclear weapons states that they are under a legal obligation "to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control".
It is surely now time that the UN Conference on Disarmament started this process, and that Britain's nuclear weapons were placed on the table as part of multilateral disarmament negotiations.
EDDIE GONCALVES
Information Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
London N7
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments