Rethink Trident

I’ve talked about this before – nuclear weapons are a nonsense. In the UK we have an opportunity again to call a halt to this madness. Let’s not replace Trident.

Today the Compass Parliamentary Group launched RETHINK TRIDENT with a front page story in the Independent.

This is what they have to say on the matter and how you can help:

"The Government is proposing to replace the UK’s fleet of Trident nuclear submarines and extend the life of existing missiles in plans that carry an estimated cost of £20bn. But they have given MP’s, scientists and campaigners just three months to weigh up the proposals, due to come before Parliament in mid-March.

Jon Trickett MP, Chair of the Compass Parliamentary Group, has been working to construct an umbrella group of organisations who believe that the case for the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent has not been sufficiently made, and that the timeframe for parliamentary approval of the decision is premature and insufficient.

The initiative - RETHINK TRIDENT – is supported by the following organisations: United Nations Association of Great Britain, One World Trust, Friends of the Earth, Scientists for Global Responsibility, War on Want, National Union of Students, British American Security Information Council (BASIC), SERA, MEDACT, People and Planet, Greenpeace, Oxford Research Group, CND, UNISON and CWU.

Today RETHINK TRIDENT released a statement endorsed by a Committee of 100 including faith leaders; academics; prominent politicians from all parties; leading authors and poets; musicians; and celebrities.

The full statement reads: We believe that:

- Britain should not be rushed into a premature decision to replace its “Trident” nuclear weapons system;
- More time should be taken for Parliamentary and public scrutiny and debate;
- The urgent need is both to halt the spread of nuclear weapons to new countries, and for all states which possess them to move more rapidly and substantially towards nuclear disarmament;
- Therefore the priority for the UK government should be launching a renewed diplomatic initiative to seek a breakthrough in disarmament and non-proliferation negotiations, as it has taken a lead in relation to such global challenges as climate change and acute poverty.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams; Professor Stephen Hawking; Bianca Jagger and Vivienne Westwood are amongst those who put their names to the statement. (view the full list).

The statement and the broad-base of support that we have worked to secure are intended to encourage MPs to support an amendment along the same lines as the statement. The Compass Parliamentary Group will work cross-party to ensure the amendment gets the necessary support.

This is our only chance to mobilise in the Commons to prevent Trident being renewed – calculations are that we will not win on an outright ‘no’ vote but have much more chance on a ‘the case hasn’t yet been made’ vote. If the Bill goes through as the Government proposes it will be the end of the matter for the foreseeable future."


Please lobby your MP to support the RETHINK TRIDENT initiative! For details on how to contact your MP click on to http://www.upmystreet.com/commons/l/

If you’re not already, please become a member of Compass and help support our work including this important campaign, join at http://www.compassonline.org.uk/join.asp

Sign up to the RETHINK TRIDENT public debate taking place at 7pm in Parliament on Tuesday 27 February 2007, full details at: http://www.compassonline.org.uk/events.asp

Sign the petition against TRIDENT at the 10 Downing Street website:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/trident/

March against TRIDENT on 24th February assemble 12 noon at Speakers Corner then proceed to rally in Trafalgar Square. Flyer here: http://www.cnduk.org/pages/24feb.pdf