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Fabian Hamilton MP on 'Peacebuilding in the post-Covid World'

  • Ellen Teague

The 20th Annual Remembrance Lecture, organised by the Movement for the Abolition of War (MAW), was held last Saturday and delivered by Fabian Hamilton MP, the Shadow Minister for Peace and Disarmament. More than 100 people attended the online gathering, and after the lecture there was a lively question and answer session. The theme was, 'Peacebuilding in the Post-Covid World'.

Before the talk, MAW's Chair Tim Devereux gave warm thanks to the outgoing MAW president Bruce Kent. Kent spoke of the 1999 Hague 'Appeal for Peace' Conference, and meeting Professor Joseph Rotblat, the Polish physicist who refused to continue work in the US on the atomic bomb when he learnt that it would be used on civilians. They discussed the need to end war and find creative ways of resolving conflict. Rotblat was the first president of MAW. Bruce referred to the UN charter which talks of 'Ending the scourge of war' and said, "Let's make it happen".

Before his lecture, Hamilton paid tribute to Bruce as an "inspiration".

He then went on to say that he felt peacebuilding "should not be allowed to fall by the wayside as the world battles Coronavirus". And he reflected, "I am convinced that to win at the next General Election, the Labour Party must make peace a priority for its foreign policy and to do this we need to make the case for conflict resolution and diplomacy over escalatory rhetoric and brinkmanship."

He was delighted that the UN Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which outlaws the possession of nuclear weapons by any state was ratified by the 50th UN member state last month, so will come into force as a pillar of international law on 22 January 2021. "It's difficult to stress how important a moment this is in our journey towards a nuclear-free world and its entry into force is a notable diplomatic accomplishment" but he lamented that the UK Government has failed to engage with it. "In the interests of upholding the rules-based order of our globalised world, we must seize the opportunity of the Review Conference next year to reinvigorate the multilateral disarmament agenda". He reported being a member of CND since he was a student and, referring to a challenge to Labour to change its policy on nuclear weapons, he said "policies change through democracy involvement….. Let's phase them out."

He was against nuclear testing. "Britain has to make it clear that nuclear tests conducted by any nation, would be a disaster for all nations as well as international peace and stability" he felt, highlighting that there are huge human consequences of nuclear testing - consequences "which are sadly already evident in Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah where there are now significant cancer clusters following the nuclear fallout from historic testing of the United States' nuclear weapons". He felt that, "if nothing else, the horrendous consequence nor humanity of possessing these weapons should be the driving force in finally bringing nuclear testing to an end."

Hamilton wanted all British arms sales to have close scrutiny, "kickstarting a new disarmament agenda for Britain". He queried Britain's arms sales to Saudi Arabia and described the use of British weapons in Yemen as "a disgrace". He was urged in questions to give attention to support building a culture of peace throughout the UK, starting with promoting peace and conflict resolution in schools.

LINKS

Watch the lecture on Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUkBJSfqF8I

See the lecture text at: www.abolishwar.org.uk/uploads/1/6/6/2/16622106/remembrance_lecture_2020.pdf

Movement Against War: www.abolishwar.org.uk/






















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