Danczuk hopes for a world without nuclear weapons

Simon Danczuk with Mordechai Vanunu

Rochdale’s Labour Parliamentary Candidate has revealed how a chance meeting with a leading campaigner of the international peace movement has led him to believe that a nuclear free world could be achieved in his lifetime.

Mr Danczuk met with the Israeli nuclear whistleblower, Mordechai Vanunu, one of the most famous prisoners of conscience in recent times, during a visit to the Palestinian territories.

He said he had been very moved by Mr Vanunu’s struggle and had been equally inspired by the US President-elect Barack Obama’s Berlin speech earlier this year in which he had declared that we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons.

“There has been a lot of missed opportunities where nuclear non proliferation objectives are concerned and I hope Britain will support Obama’s efforts,” he said.

After revealing details of Israel’s nuclear weapons program to the British media in 1986, Mordechai Vanunu spent 18-years in an Israeli prison, including 11-years in solitary confinement.

Since his release in 2004 he has been arrested several times by the Israeli authorities, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and the recipient of a host of international awards.

“This man has paid dearly for his belief in a world without nuclear weapons and I would defy anybody not to be inspired by his incredible story,” said Mr Danczuk.

“No one wants the planet to be full of weapons of mass destruction but in a very uncertain world many believe such weapons are able to deter the outbreak of hostilities. However, I believe we have to strive for a nuclear free world and the time is right to revive the aims of the Reykjavik disarmament summit of 1986, which saw the Russian and American Presidents come close to striking a radical arms reduction deal.”

Admitting that this is a very tall order given that there are now more than 25,000 nuclear weapons in the world stored in more than 40 countries, Mr Danczuk said that his meeting with Vanunu, had convinced him that anything is possible.

“Despite being left to languish in prison for nearly two decades his dream of a nuclear free world has never died,” he said. “Most people would have given up and taken a pragmatic view. You cannot fail to draw strength from that.”

He added that the debate had been given fresh impetus by the US President elect, Barack Obama, promising to ‘make the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide a central element of US nuclear policy’.

“There are huge expectations on his shoulders but I hope he can fulfil this pledge,” he said, adding that he was cautiously optimistic that progress could be made. “When you have people like the former US national security advisor, Henry Kissinger endorsing a world free of nuclear weapons then you have to believe that Vanunu’s dream is still possible.”