Labour's Ian Murray told to clarify stance on nuclear weapons

The sole Scottish Labour MP elected at the 2019 General Election previously put his name to a Nobel-Prize-winning campaign calling for the complete prohibition of nuclear weapons.

And writing for LabourList in 2015, he said: “I have been a lifelong opponent of nuclear weapons. For me, the moral case against them is overwhelming.”

However, Murray is likely to be the next Scottish secretary and would be joining a government which recently unveiled a “triple-lock” commitment to the UK’s nuclear submarine programme.

A number of people have criticised Murray for his position, including the SNP’s defence spokesperson Martin Docherty-Hughes.

“The mugwumps of Labour in Scotland once again expose the philosophical somersaults required to square their ‘aye but naw but’ approach to the horrors of nuclear weapons,” he told the Sunday National.

What has Murray signed?

MURRAY is among the signatories of a pledge set up by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

It calls on parliamentarians to “welcome the adoption and entry into force” of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The full list of signatures can be found HERE.

ICAN won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for working to “draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons”.

The full pledge reads: “We, the undersigned parliamentarians, warmly welcome the adoption and entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as a significant step towards the realisation of a nuclear-weapon-free world.

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“We share the deep concern expressed in the preamble about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would result from any use of nuclear weapons and we recognise the consequent need to eliminate these inhumane and abhorrent weapons.

“As parliamentarians, we pledge to work for the signature and ratification of this landmark treaty by our respective countries, as we consider the abolition of nuclear weapons to be a global public good of the highest order and an essential step to promote the security and well-being of all peoples.”

Who has criticised the Labour candidate?

DOCHERTY-HUGHES added that Scotland “deserves so much better” when discussing Murray's position on the issue.

He continued: “The next Westminster Labour government, with its addiction to austerity and support of Trident, will find itself unable to meet the conventional military needs of the frontline, all the while regular ranks will continue to see reckless procurement decisions, forced to live in inadequate housing and see many of their families using food banks."

The SNP figure isn’t the only person to criticise Murray, with anti-nuclear campaigner Janet Fenton also hitting out at his position.

She works with the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and has also done work with ICAN.

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“One can’t help but wonder if [Murray] is being disingenuous on an issue where SNP, Alba and Green candidates standing against him are wholeheartedly and unambiguously committed to the pledge,” she said.

“It is and should be a real issue for people in Scotland where there is such a resistance and opposition to the UK’s weapons here.

“My hope is that Ian Murray will come clean and maintain his ‘lifelong opposition to nuclear weapons’ even if that costs him a ministerial post.”

We previously told how the Scottish CND had launched a new project amid the ongoing General Election campaign encouraging Scots to vote for anti-nuclear candidates to “take the target off our back”.

The Scottish CND launched a new campaign earlier this month (Image: Scottish CND)

Scottish Greens MSP Ross Greer meanwhile told the Sunday National that a vote for Labour on July 4 is a “vote against global peace and security”.

“Nuclear weapons are not only a moral evil, but an obscene waste of hundreds of billions of pounds,” he said.

Greer (below) continued: “It is not surprising to see Scottish Labour candidates across Scotland, like Ian Murray, quickly toeing the line of their bosses in Westminster.

(Image: NQ)

“With Keir Starmer’s Labour in lockstep with the Conservatives, you can be sure that a vote for either party is a vote against global peace and security.

“The intensification of wars and climate breakdown in recent years has spurred global concerns about the catastrophic risk posed by nuclear weapons – but successive UK governments remain steadfast in pouring money into their nuclear weapons programme.

“I look forward to the day when an independent Scotland can finally take its place on the world stage and join the dozens of other nations who have signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.”

What have Labour previously said?

KEIR Starmer has described his party’s commitment to Trident – the UK’s nuclear submarines based at Faslane – as “absolute”.

He also outlined three key pledges under the “triple-lock” which include:

• The construction of four new nuclear submarines in Barrow-in-Furness, supporting high-quality, high-status apprenticeships and jobs, with the supply-chain benefits being felt right across the country
• Britain maintaining its continuous at-sea deterrent, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – securing protection for both the UK and Nato allies
• The delivery of all future upgrades needed for those submarines to patrol the waters and keep our country [sic] safe

We previously reported how the SNP said they would support signing the TPNW - which would entirely outlaw nuclear weapons across the globe - after achieving independence.

In 2017, the UK, US and France – the three Nato members with nuclear capabilities – issued a statement rejecting the TPNW, saying it “clearly disregards” the realities of the international security environment.

However, the trio did outline a "continued commitment" to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) which was signed in 1968. 

While the TPNW outlaws nuclear weapons entirely, the NPT says the countries which do not already have them cannot acquire them.

The Sunday National approached both Scottish Labour and Murray for comment although Anas Sarwar previously defended Starmer’s plans.

He said: “The world is a much more unsafe place than it was even a few years ago, never mind a decade or two decades ago, that’s why our commitment to Nato is resolute, our commitment to national security is resolute and not up for negotiation.

“The first duty of any government is to protect its citizens and we will not flounder upon the issue of national security.”