Disarmament

MoD starts purchasing Trident replacement without parliamentary OK - get your MP to act!

Posted by andrelotz — 18 March 2011 at 3:22pm - Comments

While cuts are being made to public services, why is money being spent on weapons we neither want or need?

At the mention of nuclear today our thoughts turn to the situation in Japan and all of those affected by the earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear emergency. I can only hope that the situation at Fukushima is soon contained and the risks minimised for everyone affected.

Here in the UK, there is another nuclear issue that is silently inching forward without parliamentary approval or public awareness – nuclear weapons replacement.

Article tagged as: disarmament, EDMs, nuclear weapons, peace, strategic defence review, trident

MoD have a Trident-sized hole in their budget

Posted by Louise Edge — 21 January 2011 at 11:49am - Comments

Yesterday's headline in the FT shouted "MoD faces fresh crisis over funding". It turns out that the Ministry of Defence have checked over last October's defence review and found out that they actually need an extra £1 billion a year over the next four years to deliver it.

Article tagged as: disarmament, MoD, peace, strategic defence review, trident

Ahoy! A nuclear scandal ahead?

Posted by Louise Edge — 14 January 2011 at 6:09pm - Comments

Remember the defence review? The one that left us marvelling at the Alice in Wonderland world we inhabit - where we build two giant aircraft carriers we don’t actually want because building them is actually cheaper than cancelling them? The one that said we can’t actually afford to buy any planes to put on those carriers?

Article tagged as: disarmament, MoD, nuclear weapons, peace, trident

A win on Trident?

Posted by Louise Edge — 20 October 2010 at 2:55pm - Comments

Yesterday’s Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) gave us the welcome news that plans to replace Trident have been put on hold and reductions will be made to our existing nuclear weapons. "Five year delay" shouted the papers who widely interpreted the move as a compromise to keep the coalition government together.

The reality is that in the face of military cuts and a National Security Review (which concluded the threats we face are cyber crime, terrorism, a foreign crisis "drawing in Britain", and natural disasters) it’s hard to imagine how David Cameron could have ticked the yes box on spending £97bn replacing Trident. Particularly as there was already a joker in the SDSR pack in the shape of the aircraft carriers.

Article tagged as: aircraft carriers, disarmament, peace, strategic defence review, trident

Elephants and lemons: Lib Dems make Fox's bed of nails on Trident

Posted by simon clydesdale — 22 September 2010 at 11:31am - Comments

This morning the Lib Dem conference voted unanimously for a review of the decision to replace Trident, and finally managed to prod their ministers into making some noise on the issue. This is a huge step forward for the majority of Britons who aren't convinced of the need to spend £97 billion on cold war weapons whilst public services are being slashed. Simon Clydesdale, our man on the conference floor, explains the implications:

Shirley Williams was asked recently what it was like being in bed with the Conservatives. She cannily replied that it was actually a case of two beds. And this morning the Lib Dems took the opportunity to make their bed in a distinctly different style to their Tory coalition partners when they voted to adopt an emergency motion on replacing Trident.

Article tagged as: disarmament, liberal democrats, party conferences, peace, trident

Trident - who'd buy it?

Posted by Louise Edge — 28 July 2010 at 3:14pm - Comments

How The Sun saw last week's spat between Osborne and Fox © Andy Davey

Trident replacement is looking less likely today after Chancellor George Osborne told media that the Treasury weren’t willing to stump up for the project out of central funds.

Speaking in New Delhi, where he is accompanying David Cameron on his visit to India, Mr Osborne told the Bloomberg newswire: "All budgets have pressure. I don't think there's anything particularly unique about the Ministry of Defence. I have made it very clear that Trident renewal costs must be taken as part of the defence budget."

Article tagged as: disarmament, george osborne, peace, strategic defence review, trident

So just who does want to replace Trident?

Posted by jossc — 13 July 2010 at 12:32pm - Comments

A YouGov poll released today reaffirms what we already knew: a clear majority people simply don't support government plans to build a 'like for like' replacement for the Trident nuclear deterrent.

The poll, undertaken on behalf of think tank Chatham House, found that only 29 per cent of the public backed the government's Trident plans. Amongst opinion formers the level of support fell to a paltry 22 per cent.

Article tagged as: budget cuts, disarmament, peace, trident

So it's cuts across the board - except for Trident

Posted by jossc — 23 June 2010 at 12:37pm - Comments

While George Osborne was busy launching the most swingeing budget cuts in a generation yesterday, he went out of his way to stress that he was being "tough but fair" – and that the pain of his austerity measures would be shared by everyone.

But hey - apparently companies involved in nuclear arms building wont be sharing the pain. This was made clear by new Defence Secretary Liam Fox when he presented his plans for a Strategic Security and Defence Review (SDSR) to parliament.

Article tagged as: budget, disarmament, nuclear weapons, peace, strategic defence review, trident

Let's cut Trident, save ourselves a fortune and make the world a safer place

Posted by Louise Edge — 5 May 2010 at 12:20pm - Comments

Edinburgh Greenpeace members with local MP Mark Lazarowicz

Over the last six weeks Greenpeace campaigners and active supporters have been energetically campaigning to raise the level of debate about proposals to spend £97bn on new nuclear weapons.

Together we’ve been lobbying candidates, writing to newspapers, polling people on the streets and doing much, much more behind the scenes - helping to make nuclear weapons an election issue for the first time in decades.

Article tagged as: ban ki-moon, disarmament, NPT, nuclear weapons, peace, trident

Trident: wot no parliamentary debate?

Posted by Louise Edge — 16 July 2009 at 1:43pm - Comments

In recent months it has become increasingly clear that the UK has a massive hole in its national budget and whoever comes to power after the next election is going to have to slash government spending. The debate about what should be cut has just begun, but already emerging at the top of many people's lists (certainly mine) is the planned £76bn replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons system.

Article tagged as: disarmament, nuclear weapons, peace, politics, trident

Greenpeace UK