VETERAN anti-nuclear campaigner Bruce Kent spoke about dying dogmas on the third day of the Swindon Festival of Literature.

The 80-year-old told an audience at the Arts Centre that the dogma that countries need nuclear weapons was slowly dying.

He explained that the moral authority of countries would be damaged by their holding on to their nuclear arms.

“There is simply no way you can tell other countries they [nuclear weapons] are good for our security, but you can’t have them,” he said.

Mr Kent, who has been a leading member for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) for more than 30 years, is also a former soldier and ordained Catholic priest.

His talk reflected his varied life and covered other dogmas he had come to question, surrounding the church, the government, the army, charity work, feminism and even private schools.

But one of the most moving parts of his talk was when he spoke about the people who had inspired him.

He recounted the story of Franz Jägerstätter, a conscientious objector in Austria during the Second World War, who was executed for refusing to be part of the Nazi regime.

Mr Kent said the story of this rural farmer who made a stand against a regime he did not believe in, despite not being educated to a high level or being part of any political organisation, still inspired him today.

He said: “Everything we do counts and we can each make a difference at any point in our lives.”

– CHARLEY MORGAN