Lord Provost and Leader lend support to Nobel Peace Prize cause

The Lord Provost and Leader of Glasgow City signed the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) pledge, yesterday, Thursday, December 7, ahead of the organisation being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Sunday, December 10.

The Nobel Norwegian Committee awarded ICAN the Peace Prize in recognition of "its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons".

Lord Provost Eva Bolander said: "I'm delighted to congratulate ICAN on its deserved Nobel Peace Prize. I whole-heartedly endorse its vision of a world free from the threat and tyranny of nuclear weapons. Glasgow is a Nuclear Free Local Authority (NFLA).

"This pledge underlines this council's continuing commitment to ICAN'S international aims. It also recognises ICAN's tireless work to secure a United Nations international agreement for a Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty.

"I'm proud that Glasgow has long been a member of Mayors for Peace and I'm delighted to continue that tradition and demonstrate my support, as a new Mayor for Peace, for ICAN's ambitions for global peace."

Council Leader Susan Aitken said: "Glasgow City Council was the first UK and Scottish local authority to join the Mayors for Peace movement in November 1984. We've actively worked with its President, the Mayor of Hiroshima, and its Executive Board for more than three decades with the common aim of promoting a world -free from nuclear weapons - and committed to peace.

"Glasgow is Chair of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities Scotland Forum and also a member of the ICAN UK and global coalitions. I'm therefore, delighted to endorse ICAN's Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Glasgow remains committed to its goal of achieving global nuclear disarmament. An ambition shared by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament."

They were joined by Councillor Bill Butler, a council NFLA representative who also signed the pledge. Councillor Feargal Dalton, a former submariner, who is another council NFLA representative, is expected to sign at a later date.

ICAN

ICAN is a unique collective of 468 groups in 101 countries, based in Geneva, Switzerland. Mayors for Peace is a strategic partner of ICAN led by the Mayors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. They will lead a delegation at Sunday's prize ceremony.

The ICAN pledge calls for members to encourage member states to sign up to, and ratify, the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty.

The NFLA states the world has more than 14 000 nuclear weapons and urges people to support their cause in light of the imminent nuclear threat from North Korea.

The ICAN Pledge states:

We, the undersigned Mayors, Provosts and Councillors, warmly welcome the adoption of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on 7th July 2017 as a significant step towards the realization of a nuclear-weapon-free world.

We share the deep concern expressed in the preamble about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would result from any use of nuclear weapons and we recognize the consequent need to eliminate these inhumane and abhorrent weapons.

As Mayors, Provosts and Councillors, we pledge to work for the signature and ratification of this landmark treaty by our respective countries, as we consider the abolition of nuclear weapons to be a global public good of the highest order and an essential step to promote the security and well-being of all peoples.

Signed: Glasgow 7^th December 2017

Background

The UK does not support the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government do support the Treaty.

The Republic of Ireland has signed and is in the process of ratifying the Treaty.