THERE is an importance for people to see and understand that the UN is more than a talking shop for the “big boys” as certain nations consider themselves simply because they hold nuclear weapons arsenals.

The US, Russia, China, Britain and France, the permanent five member nations of the UN security council (P5), have the power to veto any decision from the majority of the security council. This has to be wrong-headed, looking at the actions of these countries over the years, and shown in capital letters by Russia’s actions in invading Ukraine.

This unearned power of veto is obviously an affront to democracy, but more so it’s a slap in the face to all of those nations who have suffered years of economic dominance exercised by the P5 and also to those affected by military actions inflicted on their territory and people, with the implicit threat of potential nuclear attack if they defend themselves too vigorously.

In June of this year, I attended the UN in Vienna for the passing into UN law of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This was a historic achievement — but it also highlighted the collusion between the P5 as they worked in unison to boycott the conference.

This was followed by what I witnessed in August at the UN in New York, when Russia used its veto to cause the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons review conference to fail to carry forward stronger nuclear reduction rules.   

However, as I say, there is more to the UN than the P5 and their exercise of veto powers. The prohibition treaty was indeed passed, and we’ve all seen UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres speak powerfully when berating large nations’ failure to fully support the work of Cop26 in Glasgow and Cop27 in Egypt.

I spoke online to a conference with UN under-secretary on disarmament Izumi Nakamitsu, where I emphasised the Scottish government and Scottish Parliament’s position of support for nuclear disarmament.

I also suggested that, with both Russia and Ukraine being member states of the UN, it may be worth the UN offering to station a blue helmet peace-keeping force to stand in neutrality and guard nuclear power stations in warzone areas of Ukraine in order to ensure their safety from strikes which could result in the release of radioactivity. Also, there would be a maintenance of electrical power for the local civilian populations as winter approaches.

The UN deserves our full and unflinching support, and there must be another look at the right of five nuclear-armed states holding the power of veto over the decision-making process of the great majority of nation states and peoples of the world.
 
Bill Kidd is a Scottish National Party MSP for Glasgow Anniesland.