CND welcomes planned US-Russia nuclear cuts

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament warmly welcomes the disarmament goals agreed by Presidents Obama and Medvedev in Moscow today. They plan to conclude a new treaty before the expiry of the START agreement in December which would reduce deployed warhead numbers to between 1,500 and 1,675 compared to the current agreement of between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads each. The agreement is to include the verification measures lacking from recent arms reduction deals which are increasingly necessary as warhead numbers are reduced.

Kate Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said "Today's announcement marks significant progress towards a new and very necessary arms reduction treaty between the powers which hold 90% of all nuclear weapons. This is a 'good start' on the path towards Barack Obama's ultimate goal of the abolition of all nuclear weapons, towards which Britain too must show it is prepared to take concrete disarmament steps. This draft plan also sets out a framework which could be taken forward as a model for drawing in other nuclear states. This includes the verification measures which are vital to ensuring trust as stockpiles are reduced. Removing the vast weapons legacy of the Cold War is also key to meeting the challenges of a world with a growing number of nuclear-armed states. As President Obama said, reducing the arsenals of established nuclear powers is a vital to efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons."

"Obama's message is clear: that the US and Russia cannot show leadership in combating proliferation without also leading the way on disarmamen. This is a message to which Gordon Brown should pay heed. The planned £76bn replacement of Britain's Trident system cuts against the ever-strengthening trend of world opinion and has been cited by countries such as Iran in seeking to justify their own developments. Today's agreement aims to reduce delivery systems by a third, yet Britain plans to maintain its fleet of four submarines - the same posture it has held since the 60s. Instead of signing initial contracts behind closed-doors in September, Brown should immediately put Trident replacement on hold and begin a full Review of the issue."

US AND RUSSIA NUCLEAR AGREEMENT CONFIRMS TIME IS RIGHT TO DITCH TRIDENT

Commenting on the outline agreement today (Monday) between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to cut back their nations' stockpiles of nuclear weapons, the SNP repeated calls on the UK government to ditch Trident renewal plans.

SNP Westminster leader and Defence spokesperson, Angus Robertson MP, said:

“This agreement between the United States and Russia to cut back their arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, including the nuclear submarines that fire them, underlines the utter madness of UK government plans to proceed with Trident renewal.

“Trident is an obscene waste of money. At a time of economic downturn and substantial pressure on government spending, it is utterly irresponsible to waste up to £100 billion on a new generation of unnecessary and unwanted weapons of mass destruction - dumped in Scotland against the wishes of Scotland 's Parliament and a majority of Scottish Westminster MPs.

“Civil society, trade unions, religious organisations and the Scottish Government are working together to keep a new generation of Trident missiles out of Scotland , and this agreement between America and Russia reinforce that argument.”

(DECC) Ed Miliband statement on G20

Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband said:

"The Summit communique makes building a green and sustainable economy one of the six core commitments of economic recovery made by the G20 countries, and 'accelerating the transition to a green economy' one of the goals of fiscal expansion.

"The leaders also agreed a strong commitment to achieving a deal at Copenhagen - the first time all major countries have collectively done so.

"This provides an excellent platform for discussions at the upcoming Major Economies Forum. The Prime Minister welcomed the decision by President Obama to re-establish the forum including a Leaders' Summit to discuss climate change.

"These are good outcomes, establishing the central role of climate change in economic policy even in the midst of this financial and economic crisis."

I'm Sick of Obama vs. Clinton

I truly am bored to tears with Obama and Clinton. I appreciate that the political landscape in the US affects anything and everything both political and economical in the rest of the world. I know therefore that we perhaps should have an interest in what happens to their candidates and everything but I feel like this fight for nomination to stand for presidential office on behalf of the Democrats is dragging on and on and on and on.

Imagine if our leadership campaigns were conducted like they are in the US. For a start, all political parties would go broke because they simply couldn't afford a campaign lasting anywhere near as long as Clinton's & Obama's let alone for more than one candidate. Imagine if this was how the conservative party decided on its priministerial candidates since it lost power. It would've been a perpetual campaign. Imagine having to have put up with all four successive leaders of the conservatives and their rivals travelling up and down the country kissing babies and falling over themselves to be seen with celebrities and all the right people visiting Britain.

It would have been grotesque. I can't imagine anything worse. I cannot then understand why we are following the contest in the US so closely. I rather fancy that the actual reason is because we don't have enough news without it to justify 24/7 news on TV. I also appreciate that there is a little bit of carnivalesque side-showism because the candidates are female and black. I don't understand why we cannot simply tune in when it actually matters though. This in my opinion would be the point when they have actually decided who is going to stand for their party and not before. This would be the point when the two parties start to do war.

Apart from anything else they both come across like a couple of vindictive school children telling lies and spreading rumours about each other so they can be the most popular kid in class. I don't think that they are actually doing anything to enhance their reputations or reassure the world or America that they are going to be mature enough to run the country and set a positive example to the rest of the world. As far as I am aware, we have already been tortured with the wranglings of these two individuals for 15 months now and the presidential elections are not even until November. Personally, whatever happens as a result of this contest, I firmly hope that John McCain wins the big one for no other reason than I am not already sick to death of him.