UK urged to prepare for Donald Trump halting Trident partnership.

After tensions over a failed nuclear missile test last year, experts say the
White House withdrawing assistance would cost billions.

When a Trident II D5 missile misfired and crashed into the sea off the coast of Florida
during a rare test launch by the Royal Navy in January last year, American
sailors were on board the submarine to witness it. US ships monitored the
event nearby. In the days that followed, US and UK officials wrangled over
how much information the Ministry of Defence in London could share with the
public about what went wrong.

The British government wanted to be as open
as possible in the hope that it would restore some faith in the nuclear
deterrent — which costs about £3 billion a year to run — eight years
after another misfire in 2016. The Americans won the argument and officials
were limited to saying that an “anomaly occurred”.

What actually happened was a failure caused by test equipment strapped to the missile;
had it been fired in anger without such a device, it would have worked.
“There was deep frustration at the US for blocking a full explanation,”
said a defence source privy to the discussions with the Americans. The UK
has total operational control over its Trident missiles once they are
loaded on to its four Vanguard-class submarines.

However, such revelations
expose how intertwined the US and UK are when it comes to the nuclear
deterrent, Britain’s ultimate insurance policy. Should the UK want to
untangle the relationship — or a pro-Russian White House end its
co-operation — it would cost taxpayers tens of billions, experts warn.

 Times 5th March 2025, https://www.thetimes.com/uk/defence/article/uk-urged-to-prepare-for-donald-trump-halting-trident-partnership-cj8rdjw0w

March 9, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, UK | Leave a comment

UK Government ignoring international law on nuclear weapons – experts.

By Xander Elliards

 THE UK Government is flouting the international laws it has subscribed to
by refusing to discuss banning nuclear weaponry, leading experts have said.
It comes after the Labour Government dismissed a UN summit on the Treaty on
the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) out of hand, saying they would
not attend even as an observer.

However, the majority of the world’s
countries are present at the TPNW meeting in New York, where a total ban on
nuclear weapon testing, development, or use is being discussed. The UK
Government is not a signatory to the TPNW – but like the US, France,
Russia, and China it is signed up to the earlier Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT). This obliges states to prevent new countries from acquiring
nuclear weapons – but also obliges signatories to work towards complete
disarmament.

 The National 5th March 2025, https://www.thenational.scot/news/24985203.uk-government-ignoring-international-law-nuclear-weapons—experts/

March 9, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, UK | Leave a comment

One empty seat. UK fails again to send representation to UN nuke conference

 NFLA 5th March 2025,
https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/one-empty-seat-uk-fails-again-to-send-representation-to-un-nuke-conference/

The UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities laments that a joint appeal made to the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to send a British representative to an important nuclear disarmament conference being held at the United Nations this week has fallen on deaf ears.

Alongside academics and other peace campaigners, NFLA Chair Councillor Lawrence O’Neill and NFLA Secretary Richard Outram were two of the co-signatories to a letter drafted by the United Nations Association UK (UNA-UK) that was sent to the two senior British politicians asking the UK Government to send an observer to the 3rd Meeting of States Parties (3MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) which is being held in New York until 7 March.

The invitation was not taken up as the meeting has been boycotted by Britain and the other eight nuclear weapons states, which continue to refuse to engage with the treaty despite around half of the UN’s membership – 94 states – having become signatories to it, with 73 also having completed formal ratification.

The NFLAs will be especially interested to see the progress made in establishing an international trust fund to support the victims, usually Indigenous Peoples, of the use and testing of nuclear weapons and the remediation of their natural environment. This represents a clear commitment of the signatories to help satisfy their undertakings under Article 6 and 7 of the TPNW. Establishing such a fund was seen as a key priority at the preceding MSP2.

NFLA Secretary Richard Outram, in speaking recently on a webinar to mark the sixty fifth anniversary of the first French nuclear weapon test in Algeria, referenced the fact that the UK should contribute on a voluntary basis to such a fund despite not being a formal party to the treaty.

Britain tested forty five atomic and nuclear weapons in Australia, the Pacific, and latterly in the USA in a period from 1952 to 1991, and has a responsibility for the damage caused to the health and environment of Indigenous People in these places, as well as to the British atomic and nuclear test veterans community and their family members who continue to suffer as a direct result of exposure to radiation in the tests.

The NFLAs will continue to campaign for justice and financial compensation for both the civilian and military victims of nuclear weapons use and testing, and, as a member of the Nobel Peace Prize winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and a partner of Mayors for Peace, for the universal adoption of the TPNW and the total abolition of nuclear weapons.

March 8, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, UK | Leave a comment