THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH

NEWS RELEASE

4 December 2006

Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Church leaders statement on Trident

“Our churches urge the British Government to work tirelessly to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction. The end of the Cold War gave us hope that this aim is achievable. Replacing Trident would send the wrong message to aspiring nuclear powers. Each Trident warhead is capable of delivering destruction several times that of the Hiroshima bomb, therefore the proposed reduction in the number of warheads is largely academic. Replacing Trident with a new system with a potential lifespan to 2050 flies in the face of commitments that the UK has made under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.”

Revd Jonathan Edwards

General Secretary, The Baptist Union of Great Britain

Dudley Coates

Vice-President, The Methodist Church

Revd Elizabeth Caswell

Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church

ENDS

About Joint Public Issues Team

The Joint Public Issues Team combines the expertise of the Baptist Union, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church in the area of public issues. It is a pilot project for a year to help the churches increase their effectiveness by working together and learning from the feedback they receive. It helps the three churches by:

· Promoting the importance of Christian engagement with domestic and international political issues

· Providing resources and support for people active in local churches

· Campaigning on issues of concern

· Responding to Government consultations

· Working with and supporting other churches and Christian organisations

· Providing an efficient and accessible service to members of the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches.

For more information contact Toby Scott.

Toby Scott

Co-Head of Communication (Media Relations)

Methodist Church House, 25 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5JR

Tel 020 7467 5221 Fax 020 7467 5229 Mobile/Out of hours 07881 783 812

Email scottt@methodistchurch.org.uk

Anna Drew

Media and Information Assistant

Tel 020 7467 5191

drewa@methodistchurch.org.uk