I am writing concerning the January 30 roadshow meeting at Town Hall.

Across the road from where the 18th century Dr Johnson first thought of regulating our English language, another Dr Johnson held forth on the loose language which blinds us to the hypocrisy of the UK’s stance on nuclear weapons.

Fifty-six people gathered in Oxford’s Town Hall to listen to Dr Rebecca Johnson who has worked on international disarmament issues for the last 20 years. She was a senior adviser on the Hans Blix commission on weapons of mass destruction. She has worked internationally for many governments. As the vice chairwoman of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist as well as consultant for the UN and the European Parliament, Rebecca has up-to-date knowledge of what is, or is not, being done in the UK for nuclear disarmament.

Rebecca reminded people of the consequences of any, even limited, nuclear exchange, from the immediate deaths to the nuclear winter and general starvation that would follow.

After that grim reminder, she took a historic look at how disarmament of indiscriminate weapons such as mines and chemical weapons has often been moved on by the countries that don’t possess them.

Countries like Finland and Norway have been calling for a ban on nuclear weapons from the understanding that there is no humanitarian organisation that could cope with the results of their use. This was why the Red Cross played a significant role in the recent nuclear weapons convention held in Oslo. Representatives from 127 countries attended this convention but no one from the UK or the US.

The next chance to move towards really outlawing these weapons is a convention in Mexico. Our Government has not committed to sending a representative. Rebecca thinks it is time for us to be clear. With our proposal for a new nuclear weapons system we are unilaterally re-arming and at the same time refusing to join in moves towards multilateral disarmament. Now is the time, she stressed, to make this clear to our politicians.

NUALA YOUNG Tree Lane Oxford