What's wrong with Trident??
Caroline Lucas, Green Party MEP for the South East, writes,
Nuclear weapons are a humanitarian, moral, legal and environmental disaster. The first nuclear bomb dropped on the unsuspecting civilians of Hiroshima in 1945 killed more than 100,000 people: Britain’s current Trident system has a destructive capacity 200 times greater. Maintaining the capacity to kill millions of civilians is deeply immoral, even if it is only used a bully’s bargaining chip – but the reality is the Government is prepared to use them too. Former Defence secretary Geoff Hoon even suggested we should have done so in Iraq to protect ourselves from Saddam’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction. They are illegal too: the Geneva Conventions prohibit the use of indiscriminate weapons likely to cause deaths to civilians and non-combatants, and the International Court of Justice charged with upholding the convention ruled in 1996 that nuclear weapons fall into this category and their use would therefore be unlawful.
Trident is enormously damaging to the environment too: not just in terms of the damage done through mining the uranium ore out of which the warheads are made, and the other resources used and emissions produced in their manufacture and maintenance – not even simply because of the ecological devastation their use causes – but also in terms of the billions of pounds diverted from other areas. If the costs of developing and maintaining Trident were spent instead on tackling climate change the Government could begin to close the gap between rhetoric and action and meeting its ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets would perhaps be achievable.
So we must scrap Trident - and set an example to the world of a nuclear power renouncing its weapons of mass destruction. But this will never happen without sustained political pressure, and that’s why it’s important that as many of us take part in direct action against the Faslane base. That’s even more true of elected politicians. Tony Blair has shown repeatedly that he’s not prepared to listen to voters peacefully expressing their views on the streets: this has closed off traditional routes for political communication and made it vital that all of us explore less formal ways of getting the message across. That means, in part at least, elected MEPs risking arrest on cold January Scottish mornings.
And this is more important now than at any stage in Trident’s history. In December, the government published a long-awaited White Paper in which it said a decision on whether to update and replace Trident must be taken this year – and that it favoured doing so, at a cost estimated to be some $76 billion over the next 30 years. That’s cash that could sort climate change, build a new school or hospital in almost every town in the UK – or employ 300,000 nurses or teachers.
It would be in clear breach of the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty – of which the UK is a signatory – and entirely ineffective at dealing with either of the two real security threats we face today: climate change and international terrorism.
If the Government’s likely decision to replace Trident is really based on a genuine desire to improve global security, it’s wrongheaded rather than evil: but it would still be a poor decision that is bound to fail – and, at best, represents a missed opportunity to save millions of lives.
JUNE 28th - 3rd JULY 2007 YOUNG GREENS ATTENDED STRIDENT BLOCKADE AND TENT STATE!
Read about the camp and see the photos here
What can you do about it??
JOIN THE BLOCKADE!
1st October 2006 marked the beginning of Faslane 365, an audacious civil resistance initiative to apply critical public pressure for the disarmament of Britain's nuclear weapons.
Building on the success of previous mass blockades of the Trident nuclear base at Faslane, there will be a year-long continuous peaceful blockade at Faslane in Scotland. To make this happen, groups and organisations from Scotland, England and Wales, and beyond are being invited to come and shut down the base for at least one 48-hour period each during the year.
All we sign up to is a basic demand to get rid of Trident and not build any new WMD, and a commitment to nonviolence.
How can you get involved??
- Sign Faslane 365's statement of support.
- JOIN THE BLOCKADE!You can see the types of groups attending throughout the year on the blockading rota here.Transport will be arranged from all over the country - tell your friends, find your sleeping bag and go along!!
LONDON, JUNE 6th 2007: Come and find out more about Trident & Strident!
The London Young Greens have decided that a FIND OUT MORE ABOUT STRIDENT SESSION is required and so we will be gathering together as many students and young people against the upgrade of the Trident nuclear weapons system as we can to learn more about Trident itself and pick up some tips for activism at the Strident summer camp and Faslane blockade at the end of June.
Wednesday June 6th 6.30-9pm - London School of Economics, Room E304, East Building, Houghton Street. Nearest tubes Holborn and Temple.
There will be a range of expert speakers and tips and advice on preparing for the trip up to Scotland:
- Sian Berry, Green Party Principal Speaker
- Louise Edge, Greenpeace Disarmament Campaigner
- Mell Harrison, CND
- Paul Ingram, BASIC
- Seeds for Change Collective
We hope you can join us, we'd love to see you there. Even if you can't make it up to Faslane, if you're interested in the movement against Trident you are most welcome!
The event is free and everyone is welcome including non-students. It would be great if you could let us know you're coming, call07813 326 422 for more info.
EMERGENCY PARLIAMENTARY LOBBY AND RALLY
Wednesday 14th March: A day of action against Trident replacement.
The government has announced that a debate on Trident replacement will take place in the House of Commons on Wednesday 14 March from 12:40 – 7:00 pm, with a vote coming immediately after the debate.
LOBBY STARTS 1pm until 6pm; RALLY STARTS 6pm until 8pm.
Your presence in Parliament Square on the day of the debate and vote is vital to show the government the level of public opposition to Trident replacement. The rally will take place from 6-8 pm, but we also need to have a presence in the Square, with banners and placards, throughout the debate. Please join us for this important rally, and encourage others to come along.
TRIDENT DEMO - 24th Feb 2007, London!
National march against Trident replacement on the 24th February, convene 12noon at Hyde Park Corner in London.
NATIONAL PLANNING MEETING for the national student block after the march, 6.30pm for 7pm start, central London venue TBC - call 07957 400 746 on the day for more info - and keep checking the group for venue confirmation.
Look forward to seeing as many people as possible in London to help plan the summer blockade, there are loads of exciting thoughts whizzing around, so YOUR input is vital now to get things from thoughts to realities. The land for the camp's there, now it just needs you to decide what to do with it!
Sign this petition!
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to champion the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, by not replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system.
Submitted by Dr. Benedict Young – Deadline to sign up by:17 February 2007
Click here to sign the petition.
Court Challenge to Trident Replacement!
On 30th March a claim in Judicial Review was issued at the High
Court by Public Interest Lawyers on behalf of their client, the Nuclear
Information Service (NIS).
Peacerights and NIS are calling for governmental accountability on
questions of illegality and due process in the replacement of Trident
proposed in the Government’s White Paper, ‘The Future of the United
Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent’, published on 4 December 2006.
Peacerights has obtained Counsel’s Opinion by Michael Fordham QC and
Naina Patel, which argues that:
(1) The Government is incorrect in law in considering that “the UK’s
retention of a nuclear deterrent is fully consistent with our
international legal obligations” (paragraph 2-9 of the White Paper), by
reference to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and customary
international law, and viewed through the Advisory Opinion of the
International Court of Justice on The Legality of the Threat and Use of
Nuclear Weapons.
(2) The Government’s failure to consult upon the proposed replacement
of
Trident is itself unlawful in the circumstances.
NIS is calling upon the Secretaries of State for Defence and Foreign
and
Commonwealth Affairs respectively to confirm on behalf of the
Government
that:
(1) Its previously stated conclusion as to its obligations under
international law in this context was incorrect in law, and that it
cannot be satisfied that the replacement of Trident would be compatible
with international law; and
(2) Its failure to carry out a public consultation on the proposed
replacement of Trident is legally unjustifiable.
Di McDonald of NIS said:
"In 200 years' time, nuclear weapons will be viewed with the abhorrence
felt about slavery. As in 1807, the law is the means to redress
unacceptable social practices, and Britain can take the international
lead again – before it is too late.”
