Church leaders urge UK government to sign UN anti-nuclear treaty

Archbishops and bishops express much regret' in letter at refusal to join international peace accord

The leadership of the Church of England is calling on the UK government to stand with 50 other nations in signing a historic international treaty banning nuclear weapons.

Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, and Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York, have put their names alongside those of 29 bishops to a letter published in the Observer and reproduced below saying that the UK's support for the United Nations' Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons would give hope to people seeking a peaceful future.