Years ago, I was an active member of CND (Campaign for Nuclar Disarmament). The argument that having nuclear weapons was a deterrent never made sense to me.

Recently, I watched documentaries, a movie and a drama series about the creation of the nuclear bomb and Oppenheimer’s role. All of these question its effectiveness as a deterrent, and leave you horrified (as was Oppenheimer), at the monster that had been created and unleashed.

There is also a recent documentary called ‘Atomic People’, where survivors of the bombs on Japan describe what happened in horrifying and heart-breaking detail. These same people set up an anti-nuclear group and have just won the Nobel Peace Prize for it.

Where does the twisted logic come from, that says possessing these weapons of mass destruction deters others from using them on us? How can there be a competition to see which country can amass more of these terrible weapons?

If just one is unleashed, our world is changed forever – they are far more powerful now than they were in the 1940’s.

There was a brief period when there was talk of disarmament, a moment when maybe common sense would prevail. Yet it came to nothing.

It is time we stood up again and said no to spending billions on renewing weapons which we all hope will never be used, and instead spend the money on saving lives and making our world a better place to live.

It is time that one country was brave enough to take the first step and disarm their nuclear weapons, recognising that they are a threat to all our lives and our world, not a deterrent.