Letter sent to Balmoral about missile

Press, 24 September 1983, Page 11

Letter sent to Balmoral about missile

NZPA London Scottish church leaders have taken the unprecedented step of sending an open letter to the Queen to protest about cruise missiles being sited in Britain. The letter, signed by nine church leaders, was delivered to the Queen’s assistant private secretary at Balmoral yesterday. The delegation delivering the letter said that it represented the official position of the Scottish churches. The letter is being seen as the most challenging criticism yet of the Government’s policy on cruise missiles by the churches. It says that the Government is flying in the face of “serious and informed opposition from people in all sections of society.” It emphasises that “we commit enormous sums of money, vast quantities of material resources and, most vitally, the creative lives of many of our frontrank scientists and engineers to this spiral of destruction.”

The letter is signed by Bishops of the Catholic Church and leading members of other denominations.

The church leaders call for a serious debate about defence issues including the deployment of cruise missiles — and say priority should be given to opening the channels of communication between East and West. “Although the proposed deployment of cruise missiles has caused a sharpened perception of our dangerous situation, the forward planning for a whole new generation of nuclear arms needs to be called into question,” says the letter.