I mentioned the UN disarmament conference in my election blogs and commented on the complete absence of press coverage in the UK.
Its outcome has been quite positive: the non-nuclear nations have lost all patience with the nuclear states and have decided to make the possession of nuclear weapons declared illegal – whatever the UK and US say.
Regular readers of this blog need no reminding that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1966 was a temporary agreement in which non-nuclear nations agreed to remain non-nuclear on condition that the handful of nuclear-armed countries “negotiated in good faith to achieve nuclear disarmament” (Article VI).
After half a century of duplicity, the nuclear nations no longer even pretend to be fulfilling their treaty obligations. So the non-nuclear states have drawn up a statement making nuclear weaponds illegal – to come into force when ratified by two-thirds or more nation states.
This already has over 100 signatories and ratification is surely only a matter of time. 
If Britain were to renew Trident, with this declaration in force, it would be committing an act illegal under international law.
Dr John Cox blogs 