The vote followed an informed debate on the motion and nuclear weapons in general.  The full motion is printed below.  The motion mentions working with our Anglican Communion and ecumenical partners ‘to achieve a genuine peace through their [nuclear weapons] elimination’.  APF is committed to work towards this.

Bishop Stephen Cottrell put forward the motion and he concluded the debate with a quote from St Francis “First do what is necessary, then do what is possible and you will find you are doing the impossible. It was a joy and honour to bring this motion to Synod. I’ll vote for peace & justice.”

Now that the ‘necessary’ has been done we will work on the possible – not impossible – the elimination of Trident and all nuclear weapons.

Full text of the adopted motion:

That this Synod, mindful that a faithful commemoration of the centenary of the 1918 Armistice must commit the Church afresh to peace building; and conscious that nuclear weapons, through their indiscriminate and destructive potential, present a distinct category of weaponry that requires Christians to work tirelessly for their elimination across the world:

(a) welcome the 2017 UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the clear signal it sends by a majority of UN Member States that nuclear weapons are both dangerous and unnecessary; 

(b) call on Her Majesty’s Government to respond positively to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by reiterating publicly its obligations under Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its strategy for meeting them; and 

(c) commit the Church of England to work with its Anglican Communion and ecumenical partners in addressing the regional and international security concerns which drive nations to possess and seek nuclear weapons and to work towards achieving a genuine peace through their elimination.

Vote summary: 260 in favour; 26 against; 21 abstained