IN the wake of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention the ongoing war on terror, it is easy to forget that we are now halfway through the UN's Decade of the Culture of Peace. But for Northwich resident Joan Henry, the time has come to take a stand. Mrs Henry is calling on the Mid Cheshire community to make its feelings known regarding the international nuclear weapons stockpile. Nuclear missiles have slipped down most people's list of priorities since the end of the Cold War, but Mrs Henry believes there is good reason to regard them as a serious contemporary issue. She said: 'I was appalled to learn the UK is still spending £1.5billion annually on nuclear weapons.' Considering Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy's recent estimate that the Iraq war has cost the UK £3.5billion, that figure might seem nothing out of the ordinary. But there's more to Mrs Henry's opposition than the cost. She said: 'All countries owning nuclear weapons are legally bound to negotiate, sign and ratify a treaty abolishing them.' Her argument focuses on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, agreed by the world's governments in 1968. The treaty included a promise from all signatories to abolish their weapons. In the edgy political climate of the Cold War, the commitment was overlooked, but in 1996 the World Court confirmed that the treaty made the elimination of nuclear weapons a legal obligation. In 2000, the US, Russia, France, China and the UK pledged again to dissolve their nuclear arsenals. Five years on, Mrs Henry hopes the people of Mid Cheshire will add their voices to the international protest at what she sees as the world leaders' failure to act on their promises. 'I am a member of the Religious Society of Friends, which has always been committed to promoting peace,' she said. 'But at a recent Cheshire meeting I learned about Abolition 2000, a group dedicated to full nuclear disarmament. The more I found out about the current attitudes of the international community and its seeming reluctance to deliver what it has promised, the more I felt I should try to do something.' Cheshire's Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, is part of the Northern Friends Peace Board - a representative body dedicated to advising Quakers and others in the promotion of peace. Phillip Austin, the group's co-ordinator, said: 'We have been working alongside Abolition 2000 to help it achieve its targets, especially by distributing its petitions to our members.' Abolition 2000 will display the completed signatures at a UN conference in New York next month where world leaders will review their treaty obligations. It hopes the weight of public opinion on show will focus delegates' minds on the issue of disarmament. Mrs Henry has already filled the 50 petitions she started with, but urges more people to get involved. | 
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