MP's despite the largest post-war backbench rebellion, have voted for the replacement of Trident and the Vanguard submarines - a decision that may well break the Non Proliferation Treaty. Yet where is our voice? the public consultation? The referendum? The deferment of a real decision until after the international Non Proliferation conference in 2010?
Replacing Trident sends a terrible message of double standards to the rest of the world. In fact it absolutely encourages the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Replacing Trident might, according to legal opinion, put the UK in breach of our international legal commitment under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
On a national level, spending an estimated £76 billion on a replacement for Trident would be an appalling waste of money when much of our infrastructure is in such a poor state. For instance, it could provide hundreds of thousands of newly qualified nurses each year for the next ten years. All of us can think of much better ways that this money could be spent on improving life not threatening a massive level of destruction.
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01/23/2008
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New Trident too big for subs
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Reported in Scotland's Sunday Herald just before Christmas (but not seen by me until a few days ago, hence the delay in passing it on) was a tale to gladden the hearts of peaceniks everywhere - namely that the latest upgrade to the US designed Trident D5 nuclear missiles may not actually fit into British submarines.
Clearly falling well within the parameters of the "you couldn't make it up" school of classic cock-ups, the Herald reported that tender documents for future underwater-launched nuclear missiles issued by the US Navy last November specify a missile diameter of up to 120 inches. The diameter of Trident's D5 missile tubes is 87 inches.
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Author :
Source : Greenpeace
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01/23/2008
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New thinking on nukes
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Recent discussion on nuclear weapons policy in Britain has been dominated by two debates. The first, centred on Iran and North Korea, has focused on how best to prevent these states from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability. The second, centred on the decision to renew Trident, has been a replay of old and familiar arguments from the 1980s between believers in nuclear deterrence on one hand and advocates of unilateral disarmament on the other. These debates have combined to obscure an important third development: a paradigm shift in thinking about nuclear weapons policy among some of the world's leading nuclear strategists, a shift rich in potential to put multilateral, not unilateral, nuclear disarmament back on the agenda.
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Author : Ian Kearns
Source : IPPR
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11/22/2007
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Trident could deploy without a PM code
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The MoD moved quickly to respond to a BBC report that submarine commanders could, theoretically, launch a nuclear strike without an encrypted code from the Prime Minister.
MoD officials defended their safeguards to ensure political control of the country's nuclear weapons.
"We're satisfied that robust arrangements are in place for political control of the use of the UK's strategic deterrent and these controls are tested and audited," a defence ministry spokesman told the Agence France Presse.
The allegations come from a BBC report that quoted an unknown defence minister. The minister said that because of the large number of personnel involved in launching a nuclear weapon, political permission was not necessarily required.
"Launching a Trident missile from a submarine is a complex activity. Prior to launch, the command and control structure on board the submarine would need to be satisfied that the prime minister has issued instructions to launch nuclear weapons," the official said.
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Author :
Source : Public Servant Daily
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01/23/2008
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The sheer futility and huge cost of Trident
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There are no circumstances where we would use a nuclear bomb; the money would be better spent on combating rising sea levels
On Tuesday Oliver Kamm defended the Trident programme as our badge to the Royal Enclosure at Ascot. I take a different view. I believe the cost of this badge is too high a price to pay, that there are no circumstances where I can conceive we would use a nuclear bomb, that funding Trident will drain resources from our frontline troops and that we shall need billions of pounds to combat rising sea levels in the UK.
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Author : Nigel Griffiths
Source : The Times
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11/22/2007
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Trident shiplift 'vulnerable to terror attacks'
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The danger that a 9/11-style attack on the Trident base on the Clyde could cause a major nuclear disaster has been underestimated, according to internal Ministry of Defence (MoD) documents passed to the Sunday Herald.
A risk assessment for the MoD says that the shiplift used to hoist nuclear-armed submarines out of the water at the Faslane naval dockyard would collapse if it was hit by a plane. Another study by MoD experts says that an aircraft crash could trigger "weapon ignition/detonation".
This would create "one helluva mess", according to nuclear experts, who argue that the shiplift is a prime target for terrorists because it exposes a submarine and its Trident nuclear-tipped missiles to attack. Even the Ministry of Defence accepts that an aircraft crash would be "catastrophic".
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Author : Rob Edwards
Source : Sunday Herald
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11/22/2007
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When is a nation not a nation? When it can't say no to Trident
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The oldest peace camp in the world is a good place to consider Alex Salmond's tactics
Scotland has its own parliament, flag, legal and education systems, its own sports teams and its own extreme version of the British diet. Increasingly, it enacts social legislation that is different to England's. The English, some of them resentful, will be familiar with the list. Scottish students at Scottish universities pay no tuition fees, the frail elderly get free personal care and bigger subsidies on their heating bills, eye and dental checks are free, certain drugs that England's NHS says are too expensive are available in Scotland on prescription, there are proposals to abolish prescription charges and end tenants' right to buy their local authority houses. This is what devolution means, especially when the source of funding such benefits is still opaque.
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Author : Ian Jack
Source : The Guardian
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11/22/2007
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Huhne: I would scrap Trident
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Lib Dem contender announces radical policy shift
Liberal Democrat leadership contender Chris Huhne last night moved to seize the initiative from his front-running rival Nick Clegg by breaking with party policy on keeping Britain's Trident nuclear missiles.
Huhne told The Observer it would be 'ridiculous' to spend up to £15bn updating the ageing submarine-based nuclear arsenal, describing it as a Cold War relic. He also argued this would risk further tying Britain to American policies, something he suggested should be avoided in the wake of the Iraq war.
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Author : Ned Temko
Source : The Observer
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11/22/2007
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SNP gathers forces to fight Trident missile replacement
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The Scottish Government yesterday took the first steps towards stopping a new nuclear weapons system being stationed in Scotland.
The Ministry of Defence wants the £20 billion replacement for Trident to be based on the Clyde. Ultimately, the decision is up to UK MPs because defence is a reserved issue.
However, the SNP-led government has pledged to use every power available to stop the nuclear warheads being based north of the Border.
Following a summit involving politicians, unions, environmentalists and church leaders in Glasgow yesterday, Bruce Crawford, the minister for parliamentary business, announced a working group to look at the various devolved powers that could be used to stop Trident's successor being brought to Scotland by 2025.
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Author : Louise Grey
Source : The Scotsman
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08/16/2007
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Salmond battles to bomb out Trident
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Alex Salmond has opened a new front in his battle with Westminster over the future of Trident.
The Scottish First Minister hopes to forge a powerful alliance to stop the £20billion replacement of the nuclear deterrent arriving on the Clyde.
His SNP-led Executive has already openly challenged the Government's decision to renew Trident by threatening to impose a £1million toll on every warhead transported in nuclear convoys.
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Author : Meg Milne
Source : Daily Express
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08/01/2007
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A-bomb survivors in Trident protest
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A group of Japanese atom bomb survivors are blockading a Trident nuclear base, protesting at plans to renew the weapon system.
The survivors are from Nagasaki, where more than 70,000 people died after an atomic bomb was dropped on the city at the end of the Second World War. They will take part in a peaceful blockade at the Trident base in Faslane, on Scotland's west coast.
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Author :
Source : ICScotland
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08/01/2007
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Government will sell its stake in Trident
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The government has said it will sell its one third stake in the Atomic Weapon Establishment (AWE).
Based in Berkshire, the company is responsible for the development of the UK's nuclear programme.
The new Business Secretary John Hutton said the government would seek to "maximise shareholder returns" through the deal and ensure the new owners of AWE meet the requirements of the Ministry of Defence.
The government's one third ownership of AWE is shared by its stake in British Nuclear Fuels, Serco and Lockheed Martin.
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Author :
Source : Public Servant Today
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08/01/2007
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SIPRI Yearbook 2007
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Armaments, Disarmament and International Security - Security analysts, commentators and policymakers have increasingly employed the language and concept of 'risk' in place of the more traditional, and narrower, concept of 'threat'. Risk embraces a wide range of problems for human security and survival. Public policies that take into account the whole spectrum of risk have more chance of correctly assessing priorities. Risk-based analysis also helps to underline the fact that risks result partly from a country's or an individual's own choices.
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Author :
Source : SIPRI
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08/01/2007
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Report: Risk of Nuclear Warfare Rising
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The world's top military powers are gradually dismantling their stockpiles of nuclear arms, but all are developing new missiles and warheads with smaller yields that could increase the risk of atomic warfare, a Swedish research institute said Monday.
In its annual report on military forces around the globe, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute also said the rising number of nations with nuclear weapons is raising the risk such arms could be used.
"The concern is that countries are starting to see these weapons as useable, whereas during the Cold War they were seen as a deterrent," said Ian Anthony, a nuclear expert at the institute.
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Author : Karl Ritter
Source : The Associated Press/Truthout
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06/19/2007
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Holyrood votes to reject Trident replacement
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The Scottish Parliament last night voted to reject the £25 billion replacement for the Trident nuclear deterrent.
Although defence and foreign affairs are the responsibility of Westminster, MSPs voted by 71 votes to 16 with 39 abstentions, to call on the British Government not to go ahead with a new missile system.
Both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have expressed their belief that the ageing Trident system - first introduced 20 years ago - must be replaced if Britain is to retain a credible deterrent.
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Author :
Source : Daily Telegraph
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05/13/2007
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Trident vital because of Putin nuclear threat, hints Downing St
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Russia's threat to target its nuclear missiles on Europe helps to justify Britain's decision to retain the Trident system, government sources suggested yesterday.
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Author : James Kirkup
Source : The Scotsman
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05/31/2007
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Trident II D5 Successfully Launched in Two-Missile US Navy Test
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Test Brings Record to 119 Consecutive Successful Launches; Includes Roll-out of New Test Missile Kits: The US Navy conducted a successful test launch yesterday, May 15, of two Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missiles (FBMs) built by Lockheed Martin. The Navy launched the unarmed missiles from USS Tennessee (SSBN 734) in the Eastern Range in the Atlantic Ocean.
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Author :
Source : DefenceTalk.com
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05/31/2007
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Newspeak, nukespeak and Fleet Street's silencing of the real Trident debate
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Coverage on Fleet Street is never one-dimensional; significant variations from the norm can appear. Thus, on 5 December, the Guardian highlighted the opposition of the various Christian churches to nuclear weapons. But, in general, the major function of the mainstream media to silence (or marginalise) dissident views can be seen to have operated in the recent Trident reporting.
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Author : Richard Keeble
Source : MediaLens
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05/31/2007
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Revealed: the MOD plan to move Trident
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MILITARY chiefs are drawing up plans to move the UK's nuclear missiles south of the Border as concern mounts that Scotland is heading towards independence.
Scotland on Sunday can reveal the Ministry of Defence is so worried about the march of the Nationalists it has closely examined four sites for Trident's replacement outside of Scotland.
Devonport, near Plymouth, has emerged as the MoD's favourite alternative to Faslane. The base is almost certain to become the new home of the submarines and missiles that form the UK's nuclear deterrent should Scotland become independent.
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Author : Brian Brady
Source : Scotland on Sunday
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05/31/2007
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Has no one got the guts to ditch Trident?
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Of all the evasive arguments over the replacement of Trident, I find the "we don't need to take a decision now" position the most dishonest. That it is the official stance of the Liberal Democrats shows just how pathetic that party has become.
The first bit of sophistry is the argument that today's vote isn't really about "replacing Trident", but is about replacing the submarines that fire them. As if the submarines are much use for anything else. Alongside that, I would put Tony Blair's demand that Trident's opponents "need to explain why disarmament by the UK would help our security". No they don't. Mr Blair needs to explain how replacing Trident makes us more secure. Does anyone honestly believe that a leader crazy enough to fire a nuclear weapon at us would care whether we could fire one back at him?
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Author : Alice Miles
Source : The Times
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05/31/2007
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Trident challenge launched at High Court
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A challenge to proposals to replace the UKs nuclear deterrent "Trident" was launched at the High Court Friday, peace campaigners said.
Lawyers for two organisations, the "Nuclear Information Service" (NIS) and "Peacerights," lodged papers at the Royal Courts of Justice, in central London, seeking judicial review, claiming the British Government is acting illegally.
A judge will decide in private over the next few days whether they have an "arguable case" which should go to a full hearing.
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Author :
Source : Kuwait News Agency
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05/31/2007
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Legality of Trident called into question
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A LEGAL challenge to the Government's proposals to replace the Trident nuclear deterrent was launched today.
Lawyers for two organisations, the Nuclear Information Service (NIS) and Peacerights, lodged papers at the Royal Courts of Justice in London seeking judicial review, claiming the Government is acting illegally.
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Author :
Source : The Scotsman
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05/31/2007
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Proposed Replacement of Trident (PDF)
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PeaceRights - Joint legal opinion
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Author :
Source :
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05/31/2007
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Trident plan 'puts climate change research at risk'
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A GENERATION of scientists will be diverted from fighting climate change because the Trident weapons system is being replaced, an expert has warned.
Thousands of highly trained scientists and engineers will be required to develop a new nuclear deterrent after a majority of MPs last week backed the government's controversial plans to renew the UK's ageing Trident missiles.
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Author : Jenifer Johnston
Source : Sunday Herald
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05/31/2007
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MP sails into row over 'too short' Trident debate
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WEST Lothian MP Jim Devine has slammed the Government and the Westminster authorities for not giving MPs enough time to debate the replacement of Trident.
The Livingston MP, who quit his post as an unpaid aide to Health Minister Rosie Winterton, said it was "totally unacceptable" the House of Commons spent 800 hours debating hunting with dogs in England and just eight on Trident.
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Author :
Source : The Scotsman
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05/31/2007
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This is nuclear madness
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The cost of yesterday's decision on Trident will be counted in lives lost as much as pounds squandered. Yesterday's decision to replace the UK's Trident nuclear weapons system is illegal, immoral, obscenely expensive and utterly irrelevant to the real security threats we face today. These are just the headlines: in fact it gets even worse. Replacing Trident won't just violate the UK's commitments under the UN nuclear non-proliferation treaty (of which we are, supposedly, a proud signatory) - it will undermine it by persuading other countries to breach it too.
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Author : Caroline Lucas
Source : guardian.co.uk/commentisfree
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05/15/2007
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Peacerights press release
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Peacerights press release
Britain's New Bomb Programme Exposed - Greenpeace - This briefing reveals:
. how now, 10 years on, the UK Government risks destroying the treaty;
. how billions of pounds are currently being invested in building hi-tech equipment at the Aldermaston nuclear weapons laboratory;
. that the new facilities planned for the site enable Aldermaston to design and build new nuclear weapons; and
. scientists' concerns - that taking a high-tech approach to the virtual design and development of new nuclear weapons will inevitably lead to a return to full scale nuclear testing.
Treaty On The Non-Proliferation Of Nuclear Weapons - Signed at Washington, London, and Moscow July 1, 1968
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Author :
Source :
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