nuclear-news

UK govt pre-empts Parliament on more money for Trident nuclear weapons

Trident: pre-empting Commons vote on new nuclear weapons project, Guardian, Richard Norton-Taylor, 1 Sept 15  Key questions remain over relevance of nuclear weapons to Britain’s security. George Osborne’s carefully-timed announcement that the government will spend £500m more on the Trident nuclear missile submarine base at Faslane in Scotland – on top of the £3bn already spent on replacing the existing Trident fleet – appears designed to pre-empt a parliamentary vote and close down a much-needed debate.

It was, as Osborne made clear on Monday, a politically-motivated announcement, whatever defence officials may say about the need to spend early on such long-lead items as components for nuclear missile submarines…….

Which country, now or in the future, threatens our national security with a nuclear attack? Russia, as concerned as the UK is about what both nations consider to be a real threat – violent Islamist terror groups?

China, a country with no interest apart from a commercial one, in Britain, a country also deeply concerned about terrorism? Are the Scandinavian countries, or Germany, less secure, because they do not posses nuclear weapons ?

Would the US sit back and happily give a green light to Britain firing a nuclear weapon in a conflict in which it was not a protagonist?

I ask these questions in the spirit of inquiry around the key issue, namely, is the UK’s nuclear arsenal a credible deterrent? (Is the French nuclear arsenal, for that matter?)

The biggest threat to Britain’s national security is from terror groups (who might get their hands on chemical and biological ones, though not nuclear ones). They are unlikely to be deterred by Britain’s long-range Trident intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Or is it a question of Britain’s status and prestige?…….http://www.theguardian.com/news/defence-and-security-blog/2015/sep/01/trident-pre-empting-commons-vote-on-new-nuclear-weapons-project

September 4, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, weapons and war