I was back in London this week for meetings with UK Industry on the Arms Trade Treaty and with NGO’s and academics to discuss the next Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty meeting in New York in ten days time.Two quite different perspectives.
The UK as one of the world’s major arms manufactures has a real economic interest in making sure that the ATT project comes out the right way. Industry has several times voiced their support for agreed international standards that the ATT would provide. The patchwork of sometimes conflicting regulations that currently exist across the world simply makes it harder for them to do business without effectively preventing the irresponsible trade. Taking industry’s advice on how best to tackle this problem is a crucial part of our work.
My meeting with a broad range of NGO’s, think tanks and opinion formers to discuss the nuclear issue is also a way to inform our decision making. The depth of technical expertise and experience of the issue is always impressive. While they often express dissatisfaction that the government is not going far or fast enough, it is a constructive dialogue and no bad thing for officials to be challenged to defend what we are doing.
Posted at 17:33 25 April 2009 by John Duncan | Comments[0]
- Share this with:
-
-
-
-
-