by Marian Pallister

The very good news is that 50 countries have ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) - the first international instrument to comprehensively ban the development, testing, production, stockpiling, stationing, transfer, use, and threat of use of nuclear weapons. This means that the 82 states which to date have signed the treaty are bound to submit and implement a plan to divest themselves completely of nuclear weapons.

The less good news? Scotland is unfortunately in a unique position on the nuclear weapons issue. In November 2017, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon signed a parliamentary pledge supporting the treaty adopted by the United Nations the previous year. But the Westminster government, in its capacity as one of the nine ‘nuclear nations’, has no intentions of signing the treaty, let alone ratifying it. Scotland hosts the Trident nuclear installation on the fringe of its most populated area. It supports the treaty that now bans its presence, and would have added its name to the ratifying states that have been counted with such mounting excitement – but Scotland did not have that gift in its devolved package.