Notice of Motion

Labour Group

SUPPORT UNITED NATIONS TPNW: ICAN CITIES APPEAL

This Council notes;

1) That any nuclear weapon detonation by accident or intent would constitute a major humanitarian catastrophe, with consequences transcending national borders and having grave implications for the health and survival of current and future generations;

2) That the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons negotiated under United Nations auspices and adopted by 122 UN Member States on 7 July 2017, will gain international legal force on January 22nd 2021, 90 days after being signed and ratified by the first fifty governments;

3) The important security, peace-building, safety and educational roles and responsibilities of  local authorities worldwide, including through 'Nuclear Free Local Authorities' (NFLA) and ‘Mayors for Peace’, of which BHCC is a member;

4) That Mayors for Peace works with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN, 2017 Nobel Peace laureate) and other partners in over a hundred countries to encourage cities to support the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; 

This Council resolves;

1) To declare its support for the obligations and full implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons;

2) To call on the UK government to work for global peace in a world free of nuclear weapons by signing and ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and working alongside other UN Member States for its full implementation;  

3) To inform the Prime Minister, UN Secretary-General, Mayors for Peace and International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons of the Council's adoption of this resolution.

Proposed by: Cllr Evans                                        Seconded by: Cllr Childs

Supporting Information:

Legislation based on ICAN's Cities Appeal has been adopted by Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Edinburgh, Manchester, Oxford, Sydney, Melbourne, Geneva and many other cities, as well as the State of California and the County of Renfrewshire in Scotland, as listed here: https://cities.icanw.org/list_of_cities