PEACE TORCH WELCOMED TO SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

PEACE TORCH WELCOMED TO SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

· The Peace Torch will be outside the public entrance at Holyrood at 1300, Tuesday 17^th November.

SNP MSP Bill Kidd will join Minister for Parliament Bruce Crawford to welcome the World March for Peace and Nonviolence to the Scottish Parliament today as the peace torch arrives at Parliament at 1300 today.

The torch and march last week received the blessings of Pope Benedict XVI as it continues its six month journey from New Zealand to the Andes.

Glasgow MSP Bill Kidd, who is a member of Council of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament said:

“It is an honour to welcome the peace torch and the World March for Peace and Non Violence to the Scottish Parliament.
“The SNP, Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament support the non-nuclear aims of the march.
“The visit to the Scottish Parliament – a Parliament which opposes the renewal of the UK’s nuclear weapons - as NATO's parliamentary assembly meets in Edinburgh is a well timed reminder of Scotland’s continued opposition to nuclear weapons.”

A Motion lodged by Bill Kidd, for debate in Parliament is below:
S3M-5210 Bill Kidd (Glasgow) (SNP): World March for Peace and Nonviolence
That the Parliament endorses the ideals of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, which set off from New Zealand on UN International Day of Non-Violence on 2 October 2009 and ends in the Andes mountains on the 2 January 2010, that call for an end to war, the dismantling of nuclear weapons and an end to all forms of violence including physical, economic, racial, religious, cultural, sexual and psychological; notes that the Peace Torch, which has passed across continents and been greeted by thousands of supporters including Pope Benedict XVI, who offered his blessings to the delegation, will visit the Scottish Parliament on 17 November 2009, and would welcome support for this important endeavour from all those who share these ideals.