Picture by Thomas Baldwin

Tuesday May 19

General Assembly 2015 - Tuesday

The Church of Scotland today called for the government not to renew the Trident nuclear weapons system.

The General Assembly restated the church’s historic position that the ownership, use and threat to use nuclear weapons is ‘inherently evil’. In her speech, the Convener of the Church and Society Council, the Rev Sally Foster-Fulton, said that the Assembly had consistently recognised nuclear weapons as ‘morally and theologically obscene’.

The Assembly also noted ‘with concern’ the recent allegations made by whistleblower William McNeilly about safety standards on the Trident submarines and urging the Government ‘to reassure the public that Trident is safe’.

A typically diverse Church and Society debate also encompassed issues of poverty, health, education, criminal justice and climate change.

In her speech, Mrs Foster-Fulton said that the Church could be ‘proud’ of its role in facilitating ‘respectful dialogue’ either side of last year’s independence referendum. A new section commits the Council to exploring ways to ‘continue and expand’ the respectful dialogue across Scotland, although a reference to ‘ongoing tensions and aggression within the political debate’ was dropped.

She also repeated calls on the Government to rethink the use of benefits sanctions, following this year’s joint report with Churches Action on Poverty: “How does stopping financial support help you find work, when you can’t keep a mobile phone topped up to respond to potential employers or pay the bus fare to get an interview? How does presuming a person on benefits is not doing all he or she can do supposed to build them up. This report asks the government to stop using hunger as a punishment, to have a full and independent review, and to immediately suspend sanctions for people with children or suffering from mental ill health.

“Challenging the stigma of poverty, confronting the dangerous rhetoric that blames the poor for their poverty – strivers and skivers, benefits lifestyle. These unfair definitions divide and diminish us all and pit us one against the other.”

The Council agreed to a motion calling for the UK Government and European Union to recognise the state of Palestine; and another condemning all acts of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.

It also agreed to investigate the possible impacts of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement between the US and the EU.

A new section was added by the Council calling on the UK Government to ‘provide unconditional humanitarian aid to refugees in the Mediterranean, including taking additional refugees from the region’; and working to develop strategies against people smugglers and towards peace and safety in Africa and the Middle East.

The Council and Assembly agreed to a motion by the Very Rev Dr Finlay Macdonald expressing concern on the proposal of the UK government to repeal the Human Rights Act; and encouraging the Scottish Government to press for human rights issues to be devolved from Westminster to Holyrood.

One of the sections on health called on the Scottish Government to begin a ‘wide review of current mental health and related legislation’. The Rev Jim Stewart said the church is ‘very well thought of’ within the mental health work community and urged Commissioners to undertake mental health first aid training.

During the report of the Iona Community board, Community leader the Rev Peter Macdonald announced that the community had divested from all companies that do business with Israel.

The Convener of the Safeguarding Committee, the Rev Karen Campbell, reminded commissioners that the deadline for Church volunteers to join the Protection of Vulnerable Groups scheme is October 31 this year.