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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.

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

*      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.

*      Tell Liam Fox not to exclude Trident from the Defence Review – use the lobby tool on CND’s website http://www.cnd.iparl.com/lobby/39

*      Sign the Rethink Trident Petition: http://action.compassonline.org.uk/page/s/stoptrident

*      Ask your MP to sign EDM 380 opposing Trident Replacement using CND’s simple email tool.

*      Contact your MP and ask them to sign Early Day Motion 144: Nuclear Weapons ConventionEmail them via CND's lobbying tool .

 

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Events

 

2 – 6 September
READING.
Trident Ploughshares Summer Gathering ...for a nuclear weapons-free future. A chance for new and experienced activists to come together to plot the end of those nasty nukes. Join us for a fun and action-packed few days of: * Workshops & Discussion * Local Networking & Outreach * Nonviolent Direct Action Training * Action Planning * Trips to the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment * (where nasty new warhead developments are well underway). Organised by Trident Ploughshares 0845 45 88 361 tpgathering[at]yahoo.com http://www.tridentploughshares.org

1 November
DEVONPORT.
Trident submarines undergo refitting, upgrades and maintenance at the Devonport dockyard in Plymouth. It is already home to many of Britain's decaying retired nuclear subs and may become the dumping ground for them for decades to come. Please come and join in the blockade. You can sit, lie down, lock-on or provide support for the blockaders. We need your committed nonviolent civil resistance. Please bring your friends and relatives and join the blockade that will start at 6 am and continue for as long as possible. The Devonport Blockade organised by Trident Ploughshares and supported by CND. For more information or to help contact 0845 4588 363. Information available soon on http://www.tridentploughshares.org/

 

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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

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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