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Network for Peace
Network for Peace
5 Caledonian Road, London N1
9DY
Tel: 07794 036 602 fax: 020 7278 0444 (shared fax, mark fao:
NfP) Email: NfP
Trident Replacement
Events
What is Trident?
Britain’s nuclear weapons system. It consists
of 4 nuclear-armed submarines, one of which is on patrol at all times. Each
submarine carries 48 warheads, each of which has the explosive power of up to
100 kilotons, 8 times the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Replacing Trident
Trident
went into service in 1994 and has a 30-year lifespan. A decision has been
made but there’s plenty of time for this to change. The campaigning goes on.
Proponents of nuclear weapons argue that such a deterrent is necessary to
ensure our continuing security and to protect Britain’s status as a key
political actor. Many of us believe the latter is one of the most important
reasons nuclear weapons continue to be in favour with the nuclear weapons
states – these weapons are in fact a political tool rather than of any
military importance. We believe that Trident is illegal, immoral and a waste
of resources. It does nothing to increase world security and undermines
international efforts to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction. We
say there are better ways of building and maintaining peace!
Trident and the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty
To fulfil
its international legal obligations, the Government should comply with its
unequivocal commitment under the Nuclear Non
Proliferation Treaty by immediately decommissioning Trident and ruling out plans for
future nuclear weapon systems.
The cost
They
aren’t telling us the exact figure. It is estimated that it could be as much
as £25 billion. What could the government spend £25 billion on? See http://www.cnduk.org/pages/ntrep.pdf
British people oppose
developing new weapons system
When
presented with the estimated cost of replacing Trident, a majority of the British public
opposes the development of a new nuclear weapons system. The British public
understands that money would be better spent on defeating poverty at home and
abroad, and providing for employment, education and health.
Click here for results of a 2006 opinion
poll.
Leading figures from politics,
religion, the arts and the military demand halt to replacement
A
powerful coalition of 100 scientists, lawyers, church leaders, actors,
writers and MPs have demanded (20th February) a halt to the rush
by Tony Blair towards a replacement for Britain's Trident nuclear weapon
system.
Stephen
Hawking, the astrophysicist, is among the prominent figures fronting the
campaign, which will strengthen growing demands in Parliament for the vote on
the replacement of the nuclear weapons system to be delayed until a full
debate on the options has taken place.
Professor
Hawking said: “Nuclear war remains the greatest danger to the survival of the
human race. To replace Trident would make it more difficult to get arms
reduction and increase the risk. It would also be a complete waste of money
because there are no circumstances in which we would use it independently.”
What you can do
Collect signatures for CND’s No to Trident
Replacement petition in your town or city centre. Leaflets are available
at no cost from the CND office (donations for postage are welcome). Ring 0207
700 2393.
 CND
page on Trident http://www.cnduk.org/pages/campaign/ntdtrep.html
Join a local campaign against Trident.
Contact CND for details.
Organise a public meeting on Trident.
Contact the organisations below for information, suggestions on speakers,
then contact NfP for publicity!
Invite Bruce Kent to speak at your
meeting. Contact CND on 020 7700 2393.
Come to a Block the Builders action at
the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment, where a new generation of
British nuclear weapons would be designed and built. Blockades take place on
the second Monday of every month.
World Court Project UK invites you to sign an
Affirmation of Nuclear Freedom. You can learn more about the Affirmations
by visiting: http://www.abolition2000europe.org/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=4&blogId=1
Or by contacting: World Court Project
UK,
Secretary: George Farebrother 67
Summerheath Rd, Hailsham, Sussex, UK BN27 3DR, +44
(0)1323 844 269 geowcpuk@gn.apc.org
Events
4 June
WIMBLEDON. “Nuclear Weapons – time to get rid of the lot?”.
Public meeting with Bruce Kent and Kate Hudson. Mansel Road Centre, SW19. 7-9pm
(wheelchair accessible). Contact 020 8543 0362.
8 August
READING –
ALDERMASTON. Inter-Faith Pilgrimage for Peace. To mourn the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
to pray for UK
nuclear disarmament. Meet at 9am outside Reading Civic Centre. Arrive at
Aldermaston for Inter-Faith service at 4pm. Regular trains depart back to Reading from
Aldermaston station. Contact: Pete: 0118 958 8281 or Angie: 078 3535 4652.
Further information and
briefings
See the following websites for information:
Acronym: http://www.acronym.org.uk/dd/dd76/76news04.htm
BASIC: http://www.basicint.org/nuclear/beyondtrident/
CND: http://www.cnduk.org/pages/binfo/ntr06.pdf
CND ‘Alternative White Paper: Click
here
Greenpeace: http://www.greenpeace.org.uk
Medact: http://www.medact.org/article_wmd.php?articleID=387
Methodist Church: http://www.methodist.org.uk
Peacerights Report on the legality of the
Trident nuclear missile system: http://www.peacerights.org/reports/195
Trident Ploughshares: http://www.tridentploughshares.org/index.php3
UNA-UK: http://www.una.org.uk/ps_main.html
Briefing here
Yorkshire CND: http://www.cndyorks.gn.apc.org/news/articles/no_trident_replacement.htm
Blackaby Paper 7, October 2007
The Hidden Human Cost of Trident
by Di McDonald, Executive Director of the Nuclear
Information Service (NIS), which works to promote public awareness and debate
on nuclear weapons issues, & Jamie Woolley, sometime legal adviser to the
Nuclear Free Local Authorities.
The 7th in a series of occasional papers on defence and
disarmament issues in memory of Frank Blackaby.
After the March 2007 UK governmental and parliamentary
decision to undertake eventual replacement of the V-class (Trident missile
armed) submarine fleet, as well as the continued upgrading of the warhead
design and research capabilities of AWE Aldermaston, it has become essential
to document not just the financial costs of this programme but also and more
significantly the human and environmental costs. This Blackaby Paper
addresses these key and previously underemphasised issues.
Blackaby Paper 7 also contains a detailed section placing
all the arguments within a firm legal context.
Copies of the full paper can be obtained from the
Abolition 2000 UK
office (address below). Individual copies are £2:00 plus £0:50 postage (total
£2:50). Prices for multiple copies are available upon request.
Copies can also be downloaded from the website.
Abolition 2000 UK, 162 Holloway Road London
N7 8DQ Email: mail@abolition2000uk.org Website: www.abolition2000uk.org
Don't replace Trident!
Do you
want to know more about the UK's
nuclear weapons and help to make sure that they are not replaced? This pack, available free or for a
donation, includes a briefing about nuclear weapons in the UK, an action
ideas sheet, a list of key arguments, as well as postcards and petitions to
use in the community. Thanks to research
by the Oxford Research Group, the pack includes a letter writer's list of
'decision makers' - key officials and parliamentarians with a bearing on the
government's decision. There are also
instructions for making paper cranes, which we are suggesting people enclose
with letters to decision makers.
Folding paper cranes is also an ideal activity for children over 9 and
young people's groups.
For your
pack, write to:
Peace
& Disarmament Programme, Quaker Peace & Social Witness, Friends
House, 173 Euston Road,
London NW1 2BJ,
Email disarm@quaker.org.uk or call
020 7663 1067.
Quaker Peace & Social Witness Peace
and Disarmament newsletter: http://www.quaker.org.uk/
or email
QPSW Briefing on the Replacement of Trident: www.quaker.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=91671
Trident Debate Site
A broad
coalition of individuals and organisations has launched a campaign to
secure a full public and parliamentary debate on the replacement of Britain's
nuclear weapons system, Trident. The website www.bigtridentdebate.org.uk
contains a statement calling for a full debate which individuals and
organisations are encouraged to sign. Click here to read the full
statement. Please visit the
site and join the debate.
Discuss Trident
Come
Clean has launched a forum on its website to help share information, generate
discussion and create informed debate about WMD. The forum can be accessed
online at: http://forum.comeclean.org.uk/.
Of current relevance is the
section on 'Beyond Trident', a collaborative project (organised by Come
Clean, the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, Oxford Research Group
and BASIC) to raise awareness and foster public and parliamentary debate
on whether or not Britain should retain nuclear weapons and replace the
Trident nuclear weapons system. You can discuss the Future of Britains
Nuclear Weapons and find out why a debate on nuclear
policy is vital online at: http://forum.comeclean.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=2
.
Further information about Beyond
Trident is available from the Come Clean Website at: http://comeclean.org.uk/bt_information.php.
Nuclear Peace
The
objective of this site is to scrutinise the arguments advanced both for and
against the replacement of the UK’s nuclear defence system, Trident.
http://nuclearpeace.wordpress.com/
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