Bishops ask U.K. to eliminate nuclear arsenal, use money for poor Bishops of England, Wales and Scotland have jointly asked the government to scrap the country's nuclear weapons Trending HMS Vengeance returning to HMNB Clyde in 2007. (Photo: wikipedia) The U.K. should "forsake" its nuclear arsenal and spend the money it saves on helping the poorest people of society, Catholic bishops said. In a Jan. 11 statement, Scottish and English bishops said the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons offered an opportunity to build peace through dialogue rather than the threat of mutual destruction. They said that the treaty, which was signed by 122 countries in 2017 and will come into legal force Jan. 22, was a "historic milestone on the path to nuclear disarmament."