UK wrecks nuclear conference by backing Israeli nuclear WMDs over meeting disarmament obligations

In the UK Government’s official statement of 23 May on the conclusion of the 190-member state Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT Review conference that finished at the United Nations in New York on 22 May, Tobias Ellwood, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office minister responsible for international security said that NPT is “vitally important for the international community as a whole” and has  played an “unparalleled role” in curtailing the nuclear arms race. He added that  “despite the best efforts of the UK and others, this year’s Review Conference was unable to agree a substantive outcome. (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nuclear-non-proliferation-treaty-review-conference-2015)

 

But what he omitted was the reason for failure. This  directly arose because the United Kingdom  disgracefully joined Canada  in backing  the United States in blocking the  final NPT Review conference  declaration because it  promoted a nuclear free zone in the middle east,  as championed by Egypt.

 

In pig-headed fashion, UK blocked the consensus agreement  in support of Israel  which opposes Egypt’s proposals, even though Israel  is not even a party to the NPT.

 

The other option for the UK was to  join with 107 NPT member states who called in New York  for a nuclear weapons ban, which is widely supported  by civil society groups led by the International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

 

Instead, the UK obsession with nuclear WMDs over its NPT nuclear disarmament obligations was a  significant contributing cause  in wrecking a month-long diplomatic conference. Well done atomic aficionados, you myopic fools: the British people salute you!