The Third Meeting of States Parties (3MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is underway at the UN to progress the prohibition of these weapons leading to their elimination. In addition to the countries that have made the treaty legally binding, all nine nuclear armed states were invited to attend as observers. The negotiations include civil society experts, activists and academics and survivors of the nuclear weapons explosions. The progress is in stark contrast to Ian Blackford’s back pedalling away from the Scottish government’s support for scrapping Trident and supporting the TPNW. Instead he is offering the same reference to multilateral disarmament that marks the UK’s nuclear weapons position.Writing for The Times newspaper, he said that “US disengagement from Europe leads to fundamental questions of us facing a Russian aggressor with a nuclear capability. First Minister John Swinney disagreed, as did Bill Kidd MSP, who shared from New York that, “I am very surprised that Ian Blackford would say this, I’ve never heard him say this before. It is flying directly in the face of the established and continuing position of the SNP, that the removal of nuclear weapons from Scotland is a step towards the eradication of nuclear weapons worldwide.”
2025 marks the 80th year since the first military attack with nuclear weapons and the risks arising from them have grown significantly according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which has reset its ‘doomsday clock’ at 90 seconds to midnight, with ‘midnight’ representing an Armageddon arising from nuclear weapons use, and/or accelerated climate change. As states and civil society alike focus on advancing the TPNW’s implementation through in-depth evidence-based cooperation for nuclear disarmament, Mr Blackford’s comments are indicative of populist backsliding on progressive policies that represent a dangerous and adversarial response to current tribal international developments. His statement is in direct contradiction of the cross-party alignment in Scotland to eliminate nuclear weapons and recognise their gendered harms.
Nuclear weapons increase the insecurity of the most vulnerable populations of the world. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by nuclear radiation and face unique challenges after a nuclear attack. The TPNW is the first and unique treaty to hardwire gendered perspectives in. It specifically acknowledges the disproportionate impact on women, girls, and indigenous people in the preamble, including harms from ionising radiation. It recognises that equal, full, and effective participation is essential for sustainable peace and security and supports and strengthens the participation of women in nuclear disarmament.
Across 3MSP, widespread disbelief has come from Scottish and other attendees at this recent political development. Janet Fenton, Secure Scotland Organiser and Scottish Liaison ICAN, shared, “I’m glad Ian is a former leader and not the present one. I’ve been hearing so much positive evidence here in New York for how the TPNW could become universal, it makes me so hopeful that Scotland can get rid of these things and start to make a real contribution to international peace and real common security when we leave all these colonial and patriarchal practices behind and eliminate nuclear violence completely.”
In the words of Melissa Parke, Executive Director of ICAN, “’Too many people have become resigned to the view that nuclear weapons are a permanent fixture in our world. We must never accept that idea. There are no technical barriers to eliminating nuclear weapons, only political ones.” This unexpected shift from Mr Blackford provides an example of the political barriers that we are working to overcome before it leads to more rampant nuclear proliferation. We need to move away from the masculinised idea of nuclear weapons as symbols of power, rationality, and strength, and see them for what they really are – weapons of mass horror with deadly consequences.
Áine Beattie
6 March 2025
