Working Group on Scotland without Nuclear Weapons - Meeting - November 12, 2008
Present
Bruce Crawford, Minister for Parliamentary Business
Linda Fabiani, Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture (part of meeting)
Dave Moxham, STUC
Richard Dixon, WWF Scotland
Rebecca Johnson, Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy
Isobel Lindsay, Scotland4Peace
Alan MacKinnon, Scottish CND
Professor William Walker, University of St Andrews (part of meeting)
Cllr James Robb, Argyll and Bute Council
Osama Saeed, Scottish Islamic Foundation
In Attendance
John McFarlane, Special Adviser
Daniel Kleinberg, Scottish Government (part of meeting)
Elspeth Hough, Scottish Government
Claire Newton, Scottish Government
Ruth Malarky, University of St Andrews (observer)
Apologies
Apologies had been received from Rev. Ian Galloway, John Deighan, Scott Blair, Gillian Slider and Ian McMahon (observer).
Introductory Remarks
Mr Crawford welcomed Ms Fabiani to the meeting.
Minutes of Meeting of 27 August 2008
Rebecca Johnson requested that the minutes of the previous meeting be amended at paragraph 5d) to record that the conference taking place in February on the legal opinions about nuclear weapons was being organised jointly by the Acronym Institute, the Edinburgh Centre for Peace and Justice, and Trident Ploughshares. The Group agreed.
Update on Remit Theme 5: Peace and Reconciliation
Isobel Lindsay introduced a revised version SWNW(08)6 - revised) of the paper she had previously tabled on 27 August, which addressed the potential for Scotland to play a role in the promotion of peace and reconciliation. She said that the redrafted paper set out more clearly Scotland's areas of expertise and the arguments for the contribution that Scotland could make.
Ms Fabiani responded to Ms Lindsay's introduction, agreeing that Scotland had a wealth of experience on which to draw, particularly in the field of civic governance. She said that, in giving consideration to the case for any new initiatives, it would be essential to be clear about the purpose and added value anticipated. She said that cost also remained a critical factor to be taken into account: it would be important for all proposals to be fully costed.
The Group:
(a) Noted that engaging in work to celebrate UN International Peace Day would be both practical and symbolic;
(b) Noted that:
(i) the United Nations General Assembly had established a Group of Governmental Experts on Disarmament and Non-proliferation Education which had drafted a consensus report that was adopted by the General Assembly in 2002
(ii) this report required UN Member States to work with the UN and their own national and educational institutions and civil society to build capacity in disarmament education at all levels of society and report annually to the UN Secretary-General on progress made in this regard
(iii) that the UK has fully endorsed this report
(iv) and that any efforts undertaken by Scotland to build capacity in disarmament and peace education would thus be consistent with UN briefings
(c) Agreed that it was important to be clear about the context for contribution to the peace agenda, and that peacemaking and avoidance of conflict were integral elements of assuring security;
(d) Agreed that the UK Government had a responsibility to develop alternative proposals for the future of HM Naval Base Clyde without nuclear weapons;
(e) Agreed that further discussions should take place to understand how Scotland might, at a practical level, contribute to the international efforts described in the remit and how specific proposals in the paper might add value to existing arrangements. (Action: Secretariat to arrange follow-up meetings of relevant parties).
(f) Agreed the next steps in drafting the chapter for the report.
Update on Remit Theme 3: Non-Proliferation Treaty
Rebecca Johnson informed the Group of her continued engagement with representatives of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and of progress made in planning for the 2009 Preparatory Conference that would precede the 2010 Review Conference. The Group noted the position.
Update on Remit Theme 1: Economic Impact of the Removal of Nuclear Weapons from HMS Clyde
Dave Moxham informed the Group that the sub-group considering remit item 1 had met at the end of October to consider the basis for the economic reporting. He said that the sub-group had drawn together a list of questions which it proposed to put to the Ministry of Defence in order to ensure that the assumptions with which it was working were robust. He said that in addition to verifying the baseline, the sub-group was also considering recommendations for addressing the economic implications of removal of nuclear weapons, including identification of, and planning for, relevant opportunities.
The Group:
(a) Noted the proposal to put specific questions to the Ministry of Defence
(b) Noted that the implications of the removal of nuclear weapons from HMC Clyde would be, to some extent, contingent on the timing and scope of decisions taken by the Ministry of Defence and that there was a need to acknowledge and address these necessary uncertainties in the drafting of the report
(c) Agreed the importance of testing assumptions and ensuring that the economic baseline for the sub-group was well-evidenced
(d) Agreed the importance of defining terms clearly, both within chapters and in the introduction to the report, for the avoidance of ambiguity
Update on Theme 2: International Legal Opinions
Professor Walker introduced a draft position statement that had been produced on behalf of the Group as an action point from its previous meeting on 27 August. This set out the Group's stance on the legality of the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons and support for initiatives to take forward multi-lateral disarmament. Professor Walker reminded the Group that the Acronym Institute together with the Edinburgh Centre for Peace and Justice proposed to hold a conference to discuss international law and nuclear policy in Edinburgh on 3 February and that Working Group members would be invited to attend. He suggested that it would therefore be appropriate for the Group to finalise its statement for publication once it had had a chance to hear the debate. The Group agreed to this suggestion. (Action: Secretariat to produce revised draft of position statement following discussion of February legal conference)
Update on Theme 4: the Regulatory Framework
Alan MacKinnon and Richard Dixon said that the regulatory framework sub-group was conducting an analysis of responses received from emergency planners across Scotland to the questionnaires that they had issued, and placed on the website. Evidence from the returns required to be verified but these suggested that there were a number of areas in which the current regulatory regime was either insufficiently strict, or poorly implemented. The analysis of the returns would be further developed to form the basis of the chapter of the report and would be published once finalised. Alan MacKinnon said that the sub-group had also identified the importance of understanding the consequences of a nuclear accident and that it was considering the opportunities for modelling work to be carried out.
The Group noted the progress made and agreed the importance of verifying the accuracy of the evidence provided in the returns.
Reflection on progress
The Minister for Parliamentary Business said that he remained very content with the progress that the Group continued to make in its research and understanding of the issues. It was, however, important to ensure that the Group remained on target for its aim of producing a report for Ministers to timescale.
The Group agreed that each sub-group would aim to provide a draft of the proposed chapter to the Secretariat a week in advance of the next meeting. ( Action: Sub-group leaders). The Secretariat undertook to circulate the proposed template for contributions. ( Action: Secretariat).
Communique
The Group agreed the text of a communique, to be published on the website.
Close
The Minister for Parliamentary Business thanked all for their participation.
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