Nuclear war and a new arms race

Dr Lesley Morrison and fellow health professionals fear Donald Trump and think the UK should be at the forefront of international nuclear disarmament. Bruce Kent and Judy Turner on the service at Westminster Abbey to mark 50 years of submarine-based nuclear weapons

Your article Surviving nuclear war – hide under the stairs, take a bucket (3 April) about the cold war exhibition at the National Archives in Kew stirred vivid memories of the disarmament movement in the 1980s. Sadly, the work of that campaign is no less urgent now.
The recent decision of the US and then Russia to suspend compliance with the intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) treaty threatens the start of a new arms race. We are all concerned about Donald Trump’s increasingly erratic behaviour and unpredictable methods of conducting international diplomacy; our security is at risk, and the fact that he has control over the US nuclear arsenal and its potential deployment is frightening.
We write as members of Medact, an organisation of health professionals working to make the world a safer place by drawing attention to the links between nuclear disarmament, the environment and social justice.

Medact is the British affiliate of IPPNW, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, set up in 1980 by two eminent cardiologists, one American and one Soviet, and both doctors to their heads of state. Last week we met with the director of programmes for IPPNW and heard first-hand just how worried people in the US are about the potential use – deliberate or inadvertent – of nuclear weapons.
The BMA produced a report in 1983 entitled The Medical Effects of Nuclear War, describing the humanitarian catastrophe that would result. The World Medical Association and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement have echoed these sentiments.

It is worth noting that 122 nations voted in favour of the 2017 UN treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. The UK was not among them. Having heard from our American colleagues just how dangerous the current situation is, we urge people to encourage their political representatives to push for the UK to engage with the treaty and be at the forefront of international nuclear disarmament.
Dr Lesley Morrison GP
Dr Duncan McIntyre Retired physician
Dr Michael Orgel Retired clinician
Dr Judith McDonald GP
Dr Danuta Orlowska Clinical psychologist
Dr Georgina Race Junior doctor
Dr Margaret Craig GP
Dr Cath Dyer Retired GP
Dr Richard Dyer Retired GP
Dr Guy Johnson GP

May I urge the dean of Westminster Abbey to cancel the ceremony planned for 3 May. It is to be held in thanksgiving for 50 years of continuous at-sea (nuclear weapon) deterrence. That means 50 years of being ready and wiling to commit mass murder. Is this something to thank God for?
Nuclear weapons are supposedly there to ensure our security. They actually have precisely the opposite effect, and are, of course, a standing invitation to other countries to copy our example. As Robert McNamara, a former US defence secretary, said: “It was luck that prevented nuclear war.”
We are rarely told about the many accidents and miscalculations that have taken us, too often, to the brink of disaster. Perhaps it would be better to hold a day of prayer for the success of the current UN nuclear weapon abolition treaty, which this country has yet to support.
Bruce Kent
Vice-president, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/05/nuclear-war-and-a-new-arms-race?fbclid=IwAR3vswrUVuMsEh-C1pAv5dchqjAgnuaWzlMkhJfwjQk9yv877NFRqBZ3_VA