Unnecessary and unwanted: a replacement for the Trident missile system
Swallow this, Tony Blair - the majority of people in the UK don't want new nuclear weapons. According to a poll done for Greenpeace by research company MORI, 54% of the British public oppose the replacement of the current Trident system through the development of new nuclear weapons - and only one in three people expressed support. Just last week, the Prime Minister endorsed the Trident replacement - completely at odds with the wishes of the public. It's no wonder that the poll also found that nine out of 10 people want the issued publicly debated.
Trident entered into service in 1994 as the UK's nuclear weapons system, replacing the previous Polaris system. It consists of four nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered Trident submarines, each packing up to 16 US Trident missiles. Each one of these carries up to 48 nuclear warheads which can be independently targeted to create a blast eight times the power of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945. Incredi ble as it may seem, each of the four submarines carries the same destructive capability as 6144 Hiroshima bombs.
One of the questions asked by the MORI Poll - about how or when nuclear weapons should be used - was an exact repeat of a question asked in an October 1955 Gallup poll. The 2005 results show that public support for nuclear weapons has declined markedly since the Cold War:
- 87% of the UK public (up from 77% in 1955) oppose the use of nuclear weapons against a country that does not itself possess them.
- 77% (up from 64% in 1955) oppose use of nuclear weapons against a country that possesses nuclear weapons but hasn't used them against the UK
- Even if a country launched a nuclear strike against the UK, only a slim majority (55%) of people today approve of the use of nuclear weapons in response (down from 76% in 1955)
The government plans to make a decision on building a new nuclear weapons system during this parliament's lifetime. To date, the Labour administration has maintained strong indications of its intent to start a new nuclear weapons programme.
The MORI poll also shows that the opinion of the UK public is quite different to Britain's current nuclear posture, including:
- Being prepared to undertake 'first use' of nuclear weapons
- Using nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear state
- The pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons if British forces are threatened by chemical or biological weapons
In the past, government decisions on nuclear weapons development have been made secretly, with minimal, if any parliamentary, oversight - and without public input. This has resulted in the committing of billions of pounds to weapons programmes without any real debate. A case in point is the Chevaline upgrade of Polaris, continued for over 10 years without parliament being properly informed of either its existence or its escalating costs.
In order to inform a proper debate on the issue, Greenpeace submitted Freedom of Information requests for any existing studies on the military, foreign policy, and financial consequences of building a new atomic bomb. The Ministry of Defence has responded - making it clear that such reports do exist, but also that the government doesn't want the public to know about them.
We will continue to exert pressure for their release.
Dr Dominick Jenkins, Greenpeace disarmament campaigner said, "These poll results send a clear message to Tony Blair that a majority of the public oppose billions of pounds being wasted on building new UK nuclear weapons"
"The result indicates that people understand that with the Cold War over, nuclear weapons have no conceivable use and suggests that the public would support Blair taking a lead in getting rid of nuclear weapons worldwide."
"We urge him to take a lead in kick-starting the stalled international nuclear disarmament process, by confining Trident to port, storing its warheads on land, and pledging not to replace it with a new nuclear weapon."
Review key results from the MORI poll '
Download the Poll results:
British Attitudes to Nuclear Weapons '
Attitudes to Nuclear Weapons Greenpeace/MORI Topline Results '
Take Action!
Write to your MP: Demand a debate on Trident! '
