‘Scotland holds the key to dismantling the UK’s entire nuclear programme. If Scotland commits to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and demands that UK nuclear weapons be removed from Scottish territory, there will be nowhere left to go – no other site where the UK could realistically house its weapons of mass destruction.
International support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons shows that a world without nuclear weapons is possible. The international consensus against nuclear weapons is strengthening, while nuclear-armed states are increasingly isolated as they try to defend their indefensible nuclear regimes.
We believe that Scotland can best take advantage of the opportunities presented by the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and can most quickly disarm the UK’s nuclear arsenal in Scotland, as an independent nation with full autonomy over its international commitments, its territory and its political priorities. However, we are not party political, and we welcome supporters of all political backgrounds who are united in opposition to nuclear weapons.
We call on the Scottish Government to commit to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, to outlaw nuclear weapons and to disarm the UK’s nuclear arsenal in Scotland by the most direct route possible’ – Scottish CND
‘I could see clearly the force of the common sense and practical argument against Trident, yet in the final analysis I thought giving it up too big a downgrading of our status as a nation, and in an uncertain world, too big a risk for our defence. I did not think this was a ‘tough on defence’ versus ‘weak or pacifist’ issue at all. On simple, pragmatic grounds there was a case either way. The expense is huge, and the utility in a post-Cold War world is less in terms of deterrence, and non-existent in terms of military use.’ – Tony Blair
‘A Journey’
‘Along with all other states with nuclear arsenals, the leadership ranks power above survival.‘ – Noam Chomsky
“I think it’s an important duty of the prime minister and I’m ready to do it. I’m ready to do that.” – Liz Truss, on pressing the nuclear ‘button’.
‘The UK will be lifting the cap on its nuclear arsenal by 40 per cent, to 260 warheads. The UK had previously been committed to cutting its stockpile to 180 warheads by the mid-2020s’ – Boris Johnson (2021) announces the UK will be spending billions more on Trident missiles (breaching Article 6 of nuclear non-proliferation treaty)
The Independent
‘CND has calculated that replacing Trident, Britain’s nuclear weapons system, will end up costing at least £205 billion, and that’s before taking into account that Ministry of Defence projects typically go well over budget.’ – UK CND
Is it an independent UK nuclear deterrent? ‘Washington’s influence on Trident means that it has a de facto power of veto. Maintenance, design, and testing of UK submarines depend on Washington, and when the nuclear missiles aboard them are on lease from Uncle Sam.’
“There is no uniquely British component in the whole thing,” – Ted Seay, frmr US Mission to NATO.
“If the US pulled the plug on the UK nuclear program, Trident would be immediately unable to fire, making the submarines little more than expensive, undersea follies.”
“One way the USA could show its displeasure would be to cut off the technical support needed for the UK to continue to send Trident to sea,”. – 2006 Trident White Paper
“The USA has the ability to deny access to GPS (as well as weather and gravitational data) at any time, rendering that form of navigation and targeting useless if the UK were to launch without US approval.”’ – politico.eu
Is it safe? ‘The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has revealed there were 15 recorded radiation leaks from nuclear powered submarines at Coulport and a further 43 at Faslane in 2023 as of April – but said none were considered “serious”.’ – The National
Former Commander of the US Strategic Air Command, Gen. Lee Butler, said that humanity has so far survived the nuclear age “by some combination of skill, luck and divine intervention, and I suspect the latter in greatest proportion.”
‘On 26 September 1983, three weeks after the Soviet military had shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007, Lieutenant Colonel of the Soviet Air Defence Forces Stanislav Petrov was the duty officer at the command centre for the Oko nuclear early-warning system when the system reported that a missile had been launched from the United States, followed by up to five more. Petrov judged the reports to be a false alarm.
His subsequent decision to disobey orders, against Soviet military protocol, is credited with having prevented an erroneous retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its NATO allies that could have resulted in a large-scale nuclear war which could have wiped out half of the population of the countries involved. An investigation later confirmed that the Soviet satellite warning system had indeed malfunctioned. Because of his decision not to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike amid this incident, Petrov is often credited as having “saved the world”.’
These obscene nuclear missiles – deemed too dangerous to berth on the south coast of England – should be removed from the Clyde and they will be with independence.
