Trident

Election time is here again © CC Rodrigo Ono

And we're off! The election campaign is officially underway, although in practice it's been rumbling away for months. Listening to the news over the past few days, the political commentators seem certain that it's currently anyone's guess as to who will form the next government: Labour, the Tories or (whisper it) a coalition.

This uncertainty is no bad thing. For a start, it makes the process much more interesting, but it also means that with no party certain of victory, constituents have a chance to influence their parliamentary candidates' stances on various issues, particularly if they're in one of the key marginal constituencies which will decide the election. It's not a fair system but for the time being, we have to work with what we've got.

Sandra Butcher, senior program coordinator, international secretariat, Pugwash. This article first appeared in Comment is Free on Monday 22 March.

Gordon Brown told the Foreign Press Association in London on Friday that he would highlight the upcoming "moments of opportunity and challenge". He said we "must now urgently do more to build upon that brief moment of collective international will", and he reminded us that "global problems need global solutions".

Despite this rhetoric, and earlier UK statements promoting the ultimate goal of a nuclear weapons-free world, in reality Brown's comments on nuclear weapons were tepid, sadly leaving him in some ways behind the Tory party lines as discussed by shadow foreign minister David Lidington last week at the Royal Society. There was certainly no sign that Brown intends to encourage his government to show transformative leadership in this area.

Peace campaigner Louise gives us all a quick behind the scenes look at how to successfully project a slogan onto the Houses of Parliament...

With great fanfare and just ahead of the Labour party conference Gordon Brown has launched his contribution to nuclear disarmament on the world – reducing the number of Trident replacement submarines from four to three.

Will champagne corks be popping in the living rooms of peace campaigners across the land tonight? Well, while it may seem churlish to criticise any positive noises being made about nuclear disarmament, the answer is a resounding no. When you look behind the spin at exactly what has been announced it's clear there's little to celebrate.