Majority Supports UK Signing Up To UN Ban On Nuclear Weapons - Poll

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2021) More than half of the public in the United Kingdom supports the country signing up to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, according to a new poll released on Friday by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).

The survey carried out by the polling firm Survation showed that 59 percent of the people interviewed favored the UK signing up to the international agreement, which came into force on Friday with the support of 122 nations, while 19 percent of the 1,033 people polled said they opposed and a further 22 percent did not know.

The poll carried out online between January 12-13, 2021, also showed that 77 percent of the public in the UK support a total global ban on nuclear weapons.

Commenting on the survey's results, CND Kate Hudson, CND General Secretary, said: "We already know that the vast majority of countries globally are in favour of the UN's Nuclear Ban Treaty. But this polling shows that by refusing to sign or even engage with the Treaty, the government is standing against not only the majority of UN-member states but the public opinion of its own citizens."

Hudson also urged the UK government to take a lead by signing and ratifying the treaty as a first step towards a defense strategy that guarantees global security.

Labour lawmaker and CND vice-president, Jeremy Corbyn, also reacted to the poll and said it showed that "the majority of the British people understand that nuclear weapons are both a threat to the future of humanity and a grotesque waste of money that could be used wisely to provide real security."

"We must all step up our campaigning efforts to force the British Government to sign the ban treaty. And we must step up our campaigning for an end to Trident, with defense diversification and job security," the former Labour Party leader added.

The TPNW is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons. It was first adopted in July 2017 and entered into force on January 22, 2021.

The treaty, which outlaws the development, possession, and deployment of nuclear weapons by signatory states, and places obligations on them to assist victims of nuclear weapons use and testing, is supported by 122 UN member states, but as of December 11, 2020, only 86 stated had signed it.