The Nuclear page 2006 - news archive

Alice Beer, aged 94, who spent two days last week seated in her wheelchair blockading at the gates of Faslane nuclear naval base in Scotland, said she was just "doing her bit" against nuclear weapons in Britain. Politically active since her teenage years in Vienna, opposing the rise of fascism, Mrs Beer said that Nuclear Disarmament was a cause very close to her heart. She said: "I'm very glad to have this opportunity to come here and, as they used to say in the war, 'to do my bit. It's very, very important and we have lots of people here so I hope people pay attention to the cause."

In his reply President Bush invites the UK to "participate at an early stage in any program to replace the D5 missiles or to discuss a further life extension - for your purposes - of the D5 missile to match the potential out-of-service date of your new submarines". President Bush confirms that "any successor to the D5 system should be compatible, or capable of being made compatible with, the launch system for the D5 missile, which you will be installing into your new submarines".

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has calculated that £25billion would pay for, among other things:
*120,000 nurses every year for the next 10 years;
*the scrapping of student top-up fees for the next decade;
* 60,000 teachers every year for the next 20 years;
* 100,000 extra firefighters every year for a decade;
* protecting 360 million hectares of rainforest; and
* meeting the UN Millennium Goals aid target every year for the next six years.

Wednesday morning, 7:30am. A dark road somewhere North of Glasgow. Scottish cold and rain beating in my face. I'm chained via a bike lock to Irene, veteran of the Faslane struggle. One arm disappears into a tube, at the other end of which is my mate Steve. There are seven of us, five women and two men, standing in a line stretched across the road. Headlights approach through the darkness; our high-visibility minders rush forward arms waving: "Slow down, SLOW DOWN, This is a blockade don't you know!" There are flashing blue lights approaching now from further down the road; one of us makes the call "HO!" and we sink to the ground, laid flat out on the tarmac.

Nicola Sturgeon, the Nationalists' leader at Holyrood, yesterday urged Labour MSPs to vote with their conscience on the issue, as she announced the SNP would use its debate time on Thursday to discuss the Clyde-based weapons system. She pointed to a recent BBC survey of Scottish MPs which found most against a £25bn replacement plan, including many on the Labour side.

A majority of Scottish MPs are opposed to Tony Blair's plans to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system, a BBC survey has found. Thirty of the 59 MPs said they were either "definitely" or "probably" against the Prime Minister's proposals.

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are wrong to replace Trident submarines and missiles. All parties on Oxford City Council voted overwhelmingly a few weeks ago to ask the Labour Government not to renew Britain's weapons of mass destruction. The Non-Proliferation Treaty commits all countries with nuclear weapons to negotiate their complete removal. How can we expect North Korea or Iran to say 'no' to nuclear weapons when this country plans to waste £25bn of taxpayers' money on re-arming with nuclear?

ANDY Newman is quite right to draw our attention to the amount of money which is spent on the cost of conflicts in the Middle East and how much better use that money would be put to (SA, December 5). We have outstayed our welcome in Iraq and should never have been in Afghanistan in the first place. It is now time to bring the troops home. I cannot, however, agree with him over the proposed upgrading of our nuclear weapons.

The only Labour figure of any significance to take up the challenge of debating the merits of Trident has been the Scottish communities minister, Malcolm Chisholm. He told BBC Scotland at the weekend that there is no longer any need for this kind of weapon. "We ought to try to get rid of the weapons we have through multilateral disarmament," he said, "rather than encouraging proliferation through new investment in armaments." For this, Chisholm is going to lose his cabinet position in the Scottish executive, according to the Labour briefing machine which was hard at work last weekend discrediting him.

CITY leader Ewan Aitken has joined the outcry over plans to replace Britain's Trident nuclear submarines, suggesting the move would be immoral. The councillor and Church of Scotland Minister follows a host of Lothians' Labour politicians in speaking out against Tony Blair's plans.

It is a sad fact that youthful rebellion against the establishment appears to have diminished over the years in this country. Go to many anti-war marches and the average age is quite high - too high. On local marches, despite the high student population in Brighton, there are never that many students. There are a few who do turn up regularly but too few. I do not know why student radicalism has faded but life as a student must be very different today compared to student life a few decades ago.

The Federation of American Scientists, an arms control lobby group, is now questioning how independent Britain's nuclear arsenal really is. An FAS spokesman said: "Rumours have persisted for years that the British Trident warhead is just a modified version of the US W76. The US has about 3200 of these in its stockpile.

This morning the Trident submarine base at Faslane and the atomic weapons factory at Aldermaston have both been the focus of disruption as activists blockaded entrance gates.

An anti-nuclear protest which blocked the Faslane Naval Base on the Clyde has led to the arrest of 21 campaigners. The demonstration by members of Trident Ploughshares began at 0700 GMT. A main route to the base, the A814, was blocked for more than an hour.

THE first protest since the Government’s announcement on the future of Britain’s nuclear deterrent took place at Aldermaston this morning. Around 30 people gathered outside the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), with two of the protesters chaining themselves to a wheelie bin.

Blair’s a man in a hurry. The decision to renew the Trident nuclear missile system is one that just won’t wait, apparently. There’s no time for tedious things like a proper debate or consultation. North Korea has got the bomb (we think) and Iran is trying to get one (so we’re told). This despite experts insisting that a decision could be delayed until 2014. North Korea might yet come back to the negotiating table - Kim Jong Il expressed ‘regret’ for the country’s recent nuclear test after being leaned on by China. Seeing as how we may be about to ask Iran to help us get out of Iraq, maybe ratcheting up the radioactive rhetoric with them isn’t a great idea right now either.

Women from the Aldermaston Women's Peace Camp locked on to a concrete-filled wheelie-bin just outside the entrance to the base, baffling police teams for almost an hour and a half, while further down the road another team from east Anglia, Wiltshire and Essex - with D-locks and tubes - kept the traffic at bay for more than an hour.

The North looks set for a massive jobs boost after the Government said it did not want the new generation of Trident nuclear submarines built abroad. Once the £20 billion deal is given the go-ahead, the most likely site in Britain to carry out the work is Barrow in Cumbria.

Well done to everyone who came to Trinity Road police station the other week (30th Nov), for our abortive attempt to get Tony Blair arrested. It was a blustery day, and hard to anchor the banners. But we gave out a lot of leaflets, and got some satisfying press coverage. Not surprising, as a citizen police action, it was a total failure ! (But what did we expect ?) As a MEDIA stunt, however, it can only be called a success. We hope others will feel moved to participate in similar things in future, as they really help to raise awareness about the threat of Trident replacement.

FOR weeks, Jack McConnell told the Scottish Parliament that he would welcome a debate on the future of Britain's strategic nuclear deterrent, and would define his position after listening to that debate. Yet last Thursday, within 72 hours of Tony Blair launching the white paper and the debate, Jack told us he had decided to back the Prime Minister and the retention of Trident.

STAND ON the pink-white beach of Sandwood Bay, with its eerie sea stack on one side and the cliffs running to Cape Wrath on the other, and you can feel quite lonely. Of course, you are never alone, even on this remote northwestern shore. Stare straight out into the teeth of the inevitable north Atlantic gale and you are looking at Trident's backyard. Somewhere beneath the grey majesty of the ocean, a sleek 150-metre, nuclear-powered Vanguard-class submarine is on patrol. It might be close by or in a deep Atlantic trench, but one of the UK's four submarines is out there, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, its 132- strong crew drilling over and over again to unleash armageddon.

Malcolm Chisholm has become the first member of the Holyrood Labour cabinet to come out against the First Minister's support for replacing Trident. The Communities Minister has past form for adopting Left-wing stances in response to pressure from within his Edinburgh North and Leith constituency. So yesterday's decision to speak out can be seen in the context of next May's election battle.

I'd been driven back to Glasgow after my arrest during a protest at the Faslane nuclear base. The officer did stretch the rules: by the end of my 24-hour stay the satirically labelled "Fastasleep" prison mat was strewn with books, despite the regulation about one item of reading matter. Perhaps it was a relief, after nights of aggressive drunks, to face timorous requests for "the notebook at the top of my rucksack" or my toothbrush. Or perhaps she was influenced by the fact that many of her friends and family sympathise with the protesters.

Police have arrested five peace protesters after they blockaded an entrance to a British nuclear base. The anti-Trident campaigners were held at Faslane Naval Base, Argyll and Bute, at about 1130 GMT on Saturday. Supporters said the five were part of a larger group from Ireland, which had travelled to Scotland to make a stand against nuclear weapons.

Five people, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Mark Chapman, Philip Mangold, Ann Patterson and Miriam Turley were arrested by Strathclyde police outside the UK trident nuclear submarine base at Faslane , Scotland on Saturday 9 December at 12 noon. Mairead Maguire is a Nobel Peace Laureate and honorary President of the Peace People . The five were part of a larger group called that had come from Ireland as part of the Faslane 365 campaign to protest against nuclear weapons of mass destruction at the Base. The blockade lasted about 40 minutes while the traffic was slowed down to a single lane. The other members of the group sang songs and shouted words of encouragement while the five were being arrested.

You can tell that Trident is on its way out because it’s a Tower of Babel that has got everybody talking rubbish to each other about it all including myself. I try to think outside the box but people keep on dragging my thoughts and conversations back into the box again - especially about the jobs issue, not as if jobs are even an issue at all regarding nuclear weapons of mass destruction. As a member of the proletariat I know for sure that, so long as we proles get paid enough, we will churn out any old product and do-nothing-boxes because we don’t have any say in matters of production or anything else for that matter. It’s like this myth that everybody once believed that the earth was flat.

The Church of Scotland has expressed its continued opposition to weapons of mass destruction after Prime Minister Tony Blair outlined plans on Monday to spend up to £20bn on a new generation of submarines for Trident missiles, telling MPs it would be "unwise and dangerous" to give up nuclear weapons.

THE Archbishop of Canterbury has expressed serious concern about the Trident White Paper. “We should not lose sight of what the Government itself has called ‘the terrifying power’ of these weapons,” Dr Williams said.

A member of the Scottish cabinet has broken ranks with Tony Blair and Jack McConnell over nuclear weapons. Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm has told BBC Scotland that he is against renewing Trident.

I simply cannot understand the mind-set of people who insist on making a fuss over the WMD mote in the eye of some Middle-Eastern or South-East Asian country while eagerly installing a new, even shinier nuclear beam in our own. If we want other countries to give up their nuclear aspirations, we have to lead by example. There is no point at all in telling the rest of the world to do one thing, while we merrily do the opposite.

THE news that Tony Blair is proposing to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system with an even more deadly and expensive system is really alarming.
...
It will only encourage states like North Korea and Iran to continue with their nuclear programmes making the world and ourselves less safe.

So-called “low-yield” nuclear warheads may be incorporated into an upgraded Trident system. As health professionals, we have a duty to draw attention to the death and injury that would result from the use of any nuclear weapons, whatever the intended “degree of precision” or “surgical strike”. A 1kt nuclear explosion will instantly kill everyone exposed to its blast within 800 metres. Within 20 kilometres, many people will be blinded and severely injured by flash and blast and people exposed to the radioactive fallout will experience increased incidences of cancer for decades.

The smash hit film Borat is based on the joke that Kazakhstan is an incredibly backward country. But in fact Kazakhstan is one of the few countries in the world to have given up its nuclear weapons, having inherited them from the old Soviet Union.

I am heartbroken at Tony Blair's plans to replace Trident, and David Cameron's approval for this. Nuclear weapons are evil things that not only kill people but poison the planet so that nothing can live, except maybe cockroaches. Even if the replacement WMD cost a mere five quid, it would still be immoral to buy such a thing. It's also heartbreaking to see how ineffectual democracy really is. Everyday heroes marched our streets to protest about going to war in Iraq, and our government ignored them. I fear the same might happen again over this issue.

The PM's enthusiasm for renewing Trident could be driven by hidden fears about France being taken more seriously than Britain.

So let's get this clear - its important to start building four new hugely expensive nuclear submarines (remember, this isn't replacing Trident, just replacing the Vanguard class subs) as soon as possible, to continue the Cold War without an apparent deterrable enemy, and that can only be used against nuclear states under indeterminate circumstances and standards of proof that would shame Cluedo ('I accuse Kim Jong Il with the suitcase nuke in Piccadilly Circus' followed by a bucket of instant sunshine over Pyongyang).

Generations of campaigners who stayed at Faslane Peace Camp have faced up to sizeable obstacles over the years. Against Polaris, against Trident - not to mention the Argyll weather - the unorthodox collective has rallied time and again, staging concerted protests and campaigns. Out of their jumble of caravans, coaches, banners, and broken bikes strewn alongside the A814 in the shadows of Faslane naval base, their resolve shines through. But yesterday may have brought their greatest challenge to date.

ANTI-NUCLEAR campaigners today attacked the Prime Minister, saying the £25billion cost of Trident should be spent on public services. Kate Hudson, chairwoman of CND, said she was "very disappointed" in Tony Blair and said he had not listened to the public. She said: "He talked vaguely about reducing the number of submarines and warheads but it is not clear what that would mean.

Tony Blair has stretched the term "deterrent" to breaking point in announcing that Britain is to go ahead with the replacement to the Trident submarine-launched strategic nuclear weapon system, at a cost of something over £20bn. Both Roy Hattersley and Polly Toynbee are right to say that the argument for the new weapon is meaningless in terms of the doctrine of nuclear deterrence of the cold war embraced by the happily absurd acronym Mad (Mutually Assured Destruction).

On the foreshore just 100 metres from its sprawling base at Faslane, a small, damp band of protesters watched the sleek black silhouette through battered binoculars. "It's really hard to grasp what that thing can do," said the veteran peace campaigner Angie Zelter as she followed the submarine's slow progress. "It just looks like another piece of technology. It's scary beyond belief."

Let's get one thing straight. The question of whether to spend £25bn on a new Trident system has nothing to do with defence - and they know it. When I ring round a few cabinet ministers, it is mildly amusing to hear them rolling out the reason why we need a replacement with as sincere a voice as they can manage. "Iran and North Korea," they say firmly, not sounding remotely plausible.

The Church of England expressed grave doubts today over the government's decision to renew Britain's nuclear missile system, branding the weapons "indiscriminate and horrendous". The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, stopped just short of condemning the decision to spend £20bn upgrading the Trident system, but queried the recommendation on moral, legal and ethical grounds.

The SNP leader told Channel 4 News: "The Scottish Parliament isn't responsible for defence, but it is responsible for the environment in Scotland and there is a range of environmental powers which could act to stop nuclear warheads trundling through Scotland."

The British government's decision to replace its Trident nuclear system will have international repercussions, with arguments centred on whether this will help or hinder the spread of nuclear weapons around the world. It comes at an extremely sensitive time for nuclear proliferation and might strengthen the self-defence arguments of countries not in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) who have built nuclear weapons - India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea.

Several Labour backbenchers will today join CND in delivering an alternative white paper on the future of Britain's nuclear weapons system to Downing Street. As the government publishes its plans for replacing Trident, former environment minister Michael Meacher, Jon Trickett, Jeremy Corbyn and Linda Riordan will say more debate is needed.

Blair is about to make a statement on his desire to see Britain replace it's ageing weapons of mass destruction. He won't use those words of course; he'll call it our "independent nuclear deterrent". Of the three words he'll use to describe the system, only one is unproblematic. I think we can all agree that we're talking about "nuclear" weapons. But it is unclear who is supposed to be deterred by these weapons. As for the system's "independence", the claim is laughably inaccurate. It is independent in the same way that Blair's foreign policy is independent from that of President Bush.

Why, when our army is over-stretched and under-equipped and fighting on two fronts right now this minute, are we are we spending £25 billion on weapons we hope to never use in the future? Why are we lecturing ''rogue states'' on how they must not be allowed to have nuclear weapons and then busily upgrading our own?

Former defence minister Peter Kilfoyle has urged Mr Blair not to rush to a decision on what he acknowledged was an "explosive issue" for the party. "Politically, it is extremely sensitive," he told BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend. "I think it is a very inopportune moment to be replacing Trident. I think it sends out entirely the wrong message. We don't even know the putative enemy that these things will be pointed at in the future. It was a weapon that was designed for the Cold War and it is not necessarily appropriate in the future. We need a full and protracted debate. We don't need to rush to some kind of decision over the next few months as appears to be the Government's wish."

Tomorrow the government publishes a white paper advocating that Britain renew Trident, its submarine-based nuclear deterrent. Unlike earlier commitments on Britain's military nuclear capacity, there are to be three months of consultation and debate. That is to be welcomed. It means that it is not too late for the government to realise it has got its argument wrong.

The first thing to say about the replacement for our existing Trident defence system is that Tony Blair’s claim that it has to be decided this winter, before he goes, is ludicrous. You know that. The defence White Paper, which he will unveil on Monday, is all about cutting a dash as he departs and sucking up to an arms industry at present in a state of hyperventilation. The second thing to say is that the price tag he will quote at the dispatch box will be purely notional: plucked from the air and doomed to prove a grotesque underestimate. You know that, too.

A candidate to become Labour's deputy leader has said he is not convinced of the need to replace Britain's ageing nuclear weapons. Jon Cruddas said he was prepared to use his campaign for the deputy leadership to press for much more consultation on whether Trident should be replaced. He told GMTV it was a "touchstone issue" for Labour and his "instinct was to be opposed to it".

Yet another day of the Faslane 365 blockade ended as the police broke another weird and wonderful lock-on device. And tomorrow being advent Sunday, and thus, the beginning of advent, it seemed only appropriate that Mary, Joseph and the (lock-on-device-aka-) Donkey should arrive at the gate, only to be sent away again. Better put, it would be appropriate if you're part of Prayer-i58, the radical Christian-based anti-authoritarian network.

With independence, Scotland would assume responsibility for its own defence, with such international agreements as it might wish to make. This is one of the issues where majority opinion in Scotland and England diverge. Most people in England still seem to hold on to the idea of Britain (or England) as a world power. From this follows a desire to renew the so-called nuclear deterrent.

Scottish churchmen have delivered a 20,000-signature petition to Westminster calling for the UK nuclear weapons system to be decommissioned. A white paper outlining options for replacing Trident is due on Monday.

Policing protests at Faslane naval base on the Clyde cost the taxpayer almost £1.75m in October. It means the total police bill for the year-long Faslane 365 protest, which began on October 1, could rise to more than £20m

Tony Blair is personally to launch a white paper backing an expensive replacement for Britain's Trident nuclear submarine in a Commons statement on Monday. The cabinet will endorse the white paper hours earlier at a special morning session. However, some cabinet ministers have protested they were not aware until yesterday that Monday's discussion would be followed by immediate publication of the white paper, meaning in effect they will have no chance to alter the detail of a paper that will already be printed.

Cardinal O'Brien expressed his sadness that he cannot attend the delivery of the 20,000 names but he has offered his full backing by stating: "Since our first statement on the issue in 1982, Scotland's Catholic Bishops have opposed the existence of nuclear weapons in our country. We renewed that opposition earlier this year with a call to the British government not to renew the Trident system."

The Liberal Democrats today called for Britain's Trident nuclear warhead capacity to be halved to no more than 100 weapons on just three submarines - as it simultaneously proposed that the debate on the need for a new generation of nuclear deterrents be postponed until it become absolutely necessary in 2014.

The government will publish its white paper on the future of Britain's nuclear weapons on Monday 4 December 2006. Block the Builders are calling a mass blockade of AWE Aldermaston on 11 December. We need to show that their is massive opposition to any new nuclear weapons. Block the Builders are calling a mass blockade of AWE Aldermaston on 11 December. People from as far away as Yorkshire and Merseyside are already indicating their intention to come to the Berkshire bomb factory.

A White Paper on the future of Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system is to be published by the Government on December 4, followed by a vote in Parliament early in the New Year, Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman said. Earlier former Cabinet minister Charles Clarke said he was "extremely sceptical" of the need to replace Trident.

Former home secretary Charles Clarke tonight questioned the case for replacing the Trident independent nuclear deterrent, and said the government should not be “building new weapons to fight the last war”.

After months of uncertainty about the process for deciding on the future of Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system, it was good to learn that there will be a three-month consultation period prior to a vote in parliament (Cabinet unites behind decision to seek Trident replacement, November 24). But it is disappointing to hear that the government will make its decision before the consultation and vote takes place.

This weekend, from Sunday over to Monday, saw a large group of students from Sussex University travel to Scotland to play their part in the audacious civil resistance initiative, 'Faslane 365', which began on October the first 2006 to apply critical public pressure for the disarmament of Britain's nuclear weapons. Groups from all over Scotland, England, and Wales and beyond have been invitied to come down and shut the base for a period of time suitable to them.

The Methodist Church in Britain is repeating its call for the UK Government to not replace Trident and to take a leading role in disarmament talks under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Steve Hucklesby, Methodist Secretary for International Affairs, declared: “A decision to replace Trident would send an adverse signal to other states. When the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty was made permanent in 1995 it was on the basis that the nuclear powers would disarm. By stating that the UK will maintain a nuclear missile system indefinitely ‘just in case’ we are reneging on that agreement."

A dozen anti-nuclear campaigners from the North East have returned home, after spending 27 hours in police cells in Scotland. The campaigners, ranging in age from 16 to 73 and from Berwick to County Durham, lay or sat in the road in front of the main gate of Faslane naval base.

Sir, I wonder how many of the MPs who will vote on the replacement of Trident have the vaguest notion of its range, potential inaccuracy and horrific destructive power. Trident has a relatively short range of about 4,500 miles, so it would be of no use against North Korea, for example, if the submarine was on patrol in the North Atlantic. Its projected CEP (circular error probability) is said to be 1,250ft. This sounds impressive, but CEP is defined on the basis of only 50 per cent of missiles falling within the given radius, and there is no guarantee that a rogue missile might not go astray by many hundreds of miles.

Conclusion: our government's case for "Son of Trident" (SOT) is deceitful (surprise, surprise!). A British SOT, in any form, is not an effective defence against any significant danger. It protects only against dangers which carry little significant risk. It increases the risks of those scenarios which are significant. A British SOT is not for defence at all. It is intended to enable Britain to stride around the world like a (jumped-up) colossus.

The respected chairman of the Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction will use a speech in London to renew hostilities with Mr Blair. He will say that modernising Britain's arsenal puts the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) under "strain" and increases the feeling among non-nuclear states, such as Iran, that they are being "cheated" by the nuclear states.

The increasingly desperate-sounding calls from Labour leaders to the party faithful in Scotland to prepare for a life-or-death struggle against the Scottish National party comes on the heels of the cabinet's decision - come hell or high water - to drive the modernisation or replacement of Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system through his party and parliament. It is difficult to think of something better calculated to play into the hands of the SNP.

Jack Straw states "only a simpleton could think replacing Trident would breach the nuclear non-proliferation treaty", (Report, November 24). We would remind Mr Straw of the United Kingdom's obligations under article VI of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), which states: "Each of the parties to the treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective control."

A delegation representing churches in Scotland will this week deliver a 20,000-signature petition to the Ministry of Defence calling on the UK Government not to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system. Leaders of the Church of Scotland, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Scottish Catholic Church will present the petition this Friday 1 December. It calls on the Government to begin decommissioning the weapons and divert the funds to aid and development projects.

Several hundred protesters this morning descended on the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Institute for what Greenpeace, the organisers, called the world's biggest-ever nuclear weapons inspection. The demonstrators were objecting to building work at the top-secret site which they claim heralds a new generation of new nuclear weapons.

So, Britain will spend between £25 billion and £70bn on a new and useless generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to destroy most of the major cities in the former Warsaw Pact. Countries with which we are now at peace. There is no known target for these missiles. They are purely symbolic, an affirmation of British national status; there to ensure that we don't walk naked into conference chambers; that we have a seat at the top table of the UN Security Council; that we don't let the French become the only nuclear country in Europe. Trident is a bit like a codpiece: a macho decoration, intended to indicate potency, but which merely conceals the diminutive size of our moral credibility.

Sir, If the UK decides to retain nuclear arms, it will be a signal to every country that may soon acquire nuclear weapons that we consider them worth the political and economic cost. It will be a step towards a world ruled forever by mutual threat and fear. If the UK were to forgo nuclear weapons, it would indicate that one of the original nuclear states had decided that they were no longer necessary for its security; a step towards a world ruled by law and mutual understanding.

Britain has four main options for a replacement nuclear deterrent, although the relative invulnerability of a submarine-based system makes it the clear favourite from a military perspective. At least one of four Clyde-based Vanguard submarines is on patrol at any time, lurking, unseen, deep beneath the Atlantic, armed with 14 missiles carrying 48 independently targeted warheads. The missiles have a range of almost 5000 miles.

Britain is to maintain its nuclear defence with a straight submarine-based replacement for the Trident missile system, The Times has learnt. The plan is favoured by Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and most of the Cabinet. But in a move that has big implications for the cost, Mr Brown believes that detailed decisions about the number of warheads each submarine would carry, and their range, can be made at a later date.

All of this merits a lengthy debate on whether we should replace Trident and, if so, with what system. Yet the Government refused to take a motion on the issue at the Labour Party conference in September. Yesterday, having discussed it for less than an hour, the Cabinet announced that a White Paper would be published before Christmas and that a parliamentary vote would be held early next year. This schedule suggests that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, his probable successor, want to get the Trident question out of the way as soon as possible. Each has come out in favour of maintaining the deterrent but has not deigned to make a convincing case in public for his view. The electorate is being short-changed.

A Drobe reporter was among a group of anti-nuclear protesters arrested outside a Scottish submarine base earlier this month. Ian Chamberlain was arrested by Strathclyde police for allegedly breaching the peace after he and others blockaded the entrance to the naval base with signs. The base is home to four Trident nuclear submarines, which form the backbone of the UK's nuclear defence platform.

On Thursday of last week, the Revd Chris Howson, Mission Priest for Bradford city centre, was one of 27 campaigners arrested outside the base and held for 31 hours. Eight members of his congregation were also arrested.

Speaking after his arrest, he told Bradford Telegraph & Argus that he had travelled to Faslane to show support. “It is clear to me that the Government’s interests are not with the majority who are opposed to Trident replacement, and who would rather see the billions wasted on nuclear weapons spent on health, education, or climate change.”

Friends, we gather here this morning to mourn the passing of yet another former servant of the English language.
I refer to the innocent, once-useful little word "debate". Cut down in its prime, the victim went to meet the great lexicographer just after noon yesterday. Some of you will remember it fondly.

A system as controversial as Trident should not be imposed on a country without the consent of the people - and Scotland doesn't want it.

The cabinet is expected to have its first discussion today on a decision that will have momentous consequences, of the kind that surfaces once in a generation. We could be forgiven for assuming it is a forgone conclusion. But is it? The issue is the future of Britain's nuclear deterrent, now in the form of four submarines, each able to carry 16 US Trident missiles, each of which can carry 12 warheads. In the Commons yesterday Tony Blair repeated his well-worn, indeed predictable, view that Britain should retain an "independent" nuclear deterrent, a position echoed by Gordon Brown in the summer as he began to dress up in prime ministerial clothes.

Labour MPs will be under orders to back the government over the replacement of the Trident nuclear deterrent, the leader of the Commons, Jack Straw, said tonight. Mr Straw said Labour MPs would be "whipped" in the Commons vote on the issue, expected early next year. "It would be astonishing if it was not whipped. We are talking about the defence of the nation. This is not the Shops Act or fox hunting," he told journalists at Westminster.

At a time when the nonproliferation regime is under heavy pressure, the UK should seize the chance to create conditions for the global elimination of nuclear weapons by not replacing its Trident system, says an independent think-tank. "Britain has a historic chance to provide leadership and promote more effective strategies to enhance the non-proliferation regime's credibility and reduce nuclear threats worldwide," the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy said.

A NUMBER of Scotland's top entertainers are to stage a cabaret night in the Capital to protest against nuclear weapons. Campaign group Scotland for Peace is hosting Bin the Bomb Bash this Sunday.

BRITAIN's next generation of nuclear weapons could be mounted on aircraft or fired from land-based missiles, but a submarine system remains the most likely choice, a minister hinted yesterday.

The British government has insisted that it is still committed to disarm in accordance with Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) despite considering plans to replace the country's ageing nuclear weapons. "The UK is committed to the full implementation of all the full implementation of all articles in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons," Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells said.

The Catholic bishops of England and Wales have intervened in a debate over the future of Britain's nuclear weapons by demanding total disarmament.
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"Our judgment is that, by decommissioning its nuclear weapons, the U.K. now has a unique opportunity to offer the international community an approach to security and legitimate self-defense without the unconscionable threat of nuclear destruction," they said. "At the same time it could give a new impetus to the wider process toward total nuclear disarmament," they added.

Tony Blair has promised MPs a full debate on the issue and reportedly told a cabinet meeting last week that he wants the debate to begin quickly “because a decision needs to be made”. The government has promised to launch the debate with a white paper outlining options, but defence sources said the key decisions have in effect “been made”.

A decision to splash out on a highly controversial strategic weapon system that has little or no military utility at a time when conventional forces are overstretched and when the MoD is about to come under tremendous budgetary pressure as part of the 2007 comprehensive spending review could send completely the wrong fiscal message.

Tony Blair told the cabinet yesterday that he plans to launch a controversial debate on the replacement of the Trident nuclear missile programme as early as next week, in a sign that he wants to secure agreement on a multibillion replacement before he leaves Downing Street. He told ministers that a decision had to be taken quickly.

Approximately 100 people from across Wales took part in the rolling 1-year Faslane 365 campaign over three days this week (Mon 13th - Wed 15th November). 19 protesters including eight teenagers, some of whom were as young as 14, were arrested for blockading the nuclear base. Those under 16 were almost immediately de-arrested by the police, but those aged 16 and over are treated as adults in Scottish law and were detained overnight in police cells along with everyone else. Warning letters from the procurator fiscal were issued to arrestees on their release. Since the campaign began on October 1st, only one Faslane 365 case has been referred to court.

A GRANDMOTHER has been arrested again after taking part in civil resistance to bring about the disarmament of Britain's nuclear weapons. Joan Meredith, 76, was detained last month for blockading the Faslane military base in Scotland where the nuclear- armed Trident submarine is maintained.

Speaking on his mobile phone after his arrest, Mr Howson said: "I came to Faslane to show support to those who had planned to take part in the blockade. I was arrested by the police while standing on the pavement outside the base for reasons they would not explain to me, despite my repeated requests."

Over 50 Anti Nuclear protestors from Leeds and Bradford took part in a mass blockade of the Faslane Nuclear Naval Base in Scotland this morning. Twenty seven of the protestors, including the Revd Chris Howson from Bradford were arrested for their role in the blockade, which included 'locking on' to a giant CND symbol outside the main gates of the base.

Protesters are calling for the Government to abandon its nuclear arsenal and today around 60 activists from Bradford and Leeds will blockade the entrance to the Faslane submarine base in Scotland. The protest will include Rev Chris Howson, the Bradford city centre mission priest. He said: "We aim to disrupt the operation of the base and blockade the entrance when staff are attempting to get in. I have been arrested before and do not mind being arrested again."

The Baptist Union of Great Britain Council (BUGB) has passed a resolution opposing the replacement of Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system, and called upon the British government to take a lead in disarmament negotiations. The debate, which took place on Monday 13 November at The Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire, highlighted the fundamental moral and ethical reasons for advocating the non-replacement of Trident, as well as addressing financial concerns, the BUGB has told Christian Today.

CND Cymru said four arrests involved campaigners from Wales. The Bishop of Bangor, the Rt Rev Anthony Crockett, was present to wave off 30 campaigners from Bangor. "I'm very glad to be able to offer my support to the group," said the Rt Rev Crockett. He said that the possibility that £24 billion would be spent on replacing Trident was "not only a terrible waste of our resources" but the spread of nuclear weapons was "one of the greatest threats to the safety and peace of the world".

Monday the 11th of December saw one of the most successful blockades of the Faslane nuclear submarine base since the start of the Faslane 365 campaign. The blockade was a joint effort between a group of Trident Ploughshares and the crew from Faslane Peace camp.

TWO defiant Fylde pensioners were arrested after taking part in a demonstration against nuclear weapons. Alan and Jean Johnson, who are members of the Blackpool and Fylde branch of CND (the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), were taken into custody following a blockade of the nuclear submarine base at Faslane in Scotland.

A GRANNY locked up after a nuclear base protest has delivered a rallying call to Welsh activists at a demo today: "Don't be scared of getting arrested - I don't regret a thing." De Murphy, 54, was put in a cell in Scotland last month after chaining herself to a gate at Faslane nuclear naval base, near Glasgow, to prevent traffic getting through.

Ministers have revealed that the decision on the £25bn replacement of Britain's Trident nuclear missile system is likely to be delayed until next year. There are growing suspicions among ministers that the Prime Minister is seeking to leave the decision to Gordon Brown, after his departure.

Pat Sanchez of High Peak, Littleborough and Eileen Moran of Whitworth were arrested for a breach of the peace on Tuesday as they took part in a blockade at Faslane submarine base in Strathclyde. It is believed the pair, who are members of Littleborough and District Peace Group, had joined the Manchester Faslane365 group which was campaigning against government plans to renew the Trident nuclear weapons system.

8 Rhythms of Resistance sambistas joined the Manchester shift at Faslane on 6th, 7th and 8th November 06 to be part of the national Faslane365 year-long campaign against nuclear weapons and against the trident replacement. The aims of the sambistas were to raise awareness around the Trident replacement which is estimated £40,000,000,000 and also to support activists and obstruct the base with non-violent action.

CND campaigners from all over Wales will be joining a continuous blockade of Faslane Naval Base on November 12. The blockade, known as Faslane 365, is aiming to cause a whole year of disruption at the Trident British nuclear weapons base on the Clyde in Scotland.

Chris Huhne, the Lib Dem environment spokesman, added: "Much of current government spending is a legacy of the response to past threats rather than present ones, and it needs to reassess its priorities faced with the new and urgent threat of climate change."

Joan Ruddock, Labour MP for Lewisham Deptford and former chair of CND, said: "The question is, how do we best achieve our own security? It has to be through global cooperation over climate change - which is a greater threat than any conflict. Acquiring new nuclear weapons [serves] only to encourage others to do the same."

A PEACE activist from Ulverston spent the night in jail after protesting against nuclear weapons outside Faslane naval base. Mary Searle-Chatterjee, of Dalton-gate, was among 40 campaigners blockading the main gates of the base on the Clyde which is home to Britain’s Barrow-built Trident submarines.

The sound of hymn singing was heard in Clydebank Police cells on Wednesday night as church leaders and members of their congregations were held after their arrest at Faslane Naval Base in Scotland. Clergy from the Church of England and the Church of Scotland are amongst those who are part of over 200 arrests now made since the F365 campaign began in October.

At 2 o'clock the majority of the gathering (40+? short of the desired 100) moved into the road and walked around the roundabout singing together, of loving, singing, walking forward, never going back. As we approached the gate, a chain was pulled across the front of the gate, with a banner attached against Trident. People sat on the road and symbolically held on to the chain. Behind, two people attempted to lock-on with arm tubes around the front tyre of the first van to pull up at the blockade.

A former senior scientist with the United Nations has told the BBC that studies showing that it was carcinogenic were suppressed from a seminal World Health Organisation report. The US has refused to fund major research and has been criticised for failing to cooperate with UN attempts to conduct a post conflict assessment in Iraq.
Angus Stickler reports:

In the letter, signed by Archbishop Peter Smith of Cardiff along with the bishops of Wrexham and Menevia, Edwin Regan and Mark Jabale, point out that the UK, as a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, is obligated to “reduce and ultimately abandon, nuclear weapons altogether.”

PEACE campaigners from South Lakeland were due to join a national protest outside Faslane naval depot in Scotland today. Two are from Ulverston, one from Kirkby and the other from Grange. They represent Cumbria and North Lancashire Peace Group, which is taking part in Faslane 365 — a year-long protest which began in early October.

In an interview with the Sunday Times yesterday, Ms Beckett said there was "real merit" in publishing a white paper on Trident because it would be a "very good thing for all of us as a country to think carefully about what the situation of today is". She said: "The nature and shape of the nuclear deterrent we have and are maintaining and keeping up to date was dictated in the cold war circumstances of decades ago. The security situation today across the world is very, very different.

Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has called for a public debate on renewing the UK's Trident nuclear deterrent. Mrs Beckett said in an interview with the Sunday Times it was important to ask "do we go on with this?" Some Labour MPs have accused ministers of trying to stifle discussion about plans to replace Trident - which are estimated to cost up to £25bn.

Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has called for a national debate on the future of Britain's independent nuclear deterrent. In an interview with The Sunday Times, she said controversial moves to replace Trident would be considered from "first principles". Her comments follow anger among Labour left-wingers who have accused ministers of trying to shut debate about the plans which could cost up to £25 billion.

AROUND 50 protestors from Cumbria and Lancaster will be spending 36 hours on Halloween at Faslane where Britain’s nuclear missiles are loaded on to four Trident submarines.

The Scottish Socialist party's national convenor, Colin Fox, yesterday criticised the decision of Glasgow sheriff court to impose a 14-day jail sentence on MSP Rosie Kane for her part in an anti-Trident missile protest at the Scottish parliament last year.

Amongst all the ways in which hidden costs and what economists call externalities get imposed on those who are powerless to resist, finding ways to deposit these costs somewhere in the future is the most blatant. The greatest inequality of power between those who impose costs and those who have to bear them is the one that exists between those who are alive now, and those who will inhabit the world we have created. The basic iniquity of the Government’s latest round of support for nuclear power lies in its willingness to exploit this power gap rather than to face it with a sense of responsibility.

FASLANE naval base, home to the Trident missile submarines, had a visit yesterday from the Rt Rev Alan McDonald, the Kirk's Moderator and a well-known anti-nuclear campaigner.

The capacity to test nuclear weapons in the laboratory without the need for underground explosions is being developed by the British government, undermining its commitment to a test ban treaty, claims Greenpeace. The report by the environmental action group follows speculation over investment in new technology at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston.

POLICE officers are being moved from duties in Glasgow to guard Faslane against daily anti-nuclear protests. The switch has sparked claims that community policing in the city is suffering.

A longstanding campaigner against the UK’s nuclear deterrent, Rev McDonald will spend an hour at the base on Tuesday morning where he will meet the Royal Navy’s Flag Officer for Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland, Rear Admiral Philip Wilcocks DSC. Rev McDonald will follow his visit to the HM Clyde Naval Base with a visit to the Peace Camp at Faslane where he will speak to activists and residents.

Greenpeace said the international Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty is being contravened at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Aldermaston. But a Ministry of Defence spokesman said Trident nuclear missiles are not being replaced at the Berkshire base.

A fortnight ago she packed up her trusty old VW camper van – her loyal, supportive husband David had spent the day before remedying a flat battery – and headed up to Faslane, the Trident submarine base on the west coast of Scotland. She spent the following two days on kitchen duty, ensuring her fellow anti-nuclear war campaigners had a square meal when they came off the front line. “It wasn’t my turn to get arrested – I’ve got too much on in my home life at the minute to be arrested – so I went as support this time,” she said.

Even in far Northern Britain, anti-nuclear action is a world wide affair, as demonstrated by the arrests of 23 Swedes and 19 Finns who made up the bulk of the 42 people nicked at last Monday’s Faslane 365 demo at the nuclear weapons base in Scotland.

Wasn’t it obvious that, in the midst of the Cold War, having a nuclear deterrent was exactly that… a deterrent that even the Russians, for all their aggressive posturing, weren’t stupid enough to ignore? But nowadays it is arguable that having nuclear weapons is a provocation rather than a deterrent. That it actually makes us more of a target.

A THIRTEEN-year-old girl who was arrested after blocking the entrance to Faslane Naval Base has spoken of her pride at being involved in the action. Broughton High School pupil Catherine Holmes locked her arm to that of her 15-year-old friend Nikki Logan via a pipe hidden inside a teddy bear, in an attempt to obstruct business at the Trident nuclear submarine base.

A total of 42 peace protesters from Sweden and Finland have been arrested after blockading an entrance to Faslane.

Around two dozen Finnish peace activists were arrested by Scottish police on Monday at the Faslane naval base, more correctly known as HMNB Clyde, the home of Britain's nuclear submarine force.

At an ecumenical seminar in central London on 4 October, Douglas Roche, former Canadian parliamentarian and adviser to the Holy See on disarmament issues, asked the question: "Does the UK government have the courage to face the world without nuclear armour?"

Moyra Martin, of Shoreham, will join other activists from around the UK to close the base for two days, on Sunday and Monday. She said: "I am aware that taking part in this action may lead to arrest – ironically, for breach of the peace – but I feel compelled to do what I can to make the world a safer place for my grandchildren."

A PHYSICIAN from Ross-shire has been released without charge after being arrested for taking part in an anti-nuclear protest on the Clyde. Simon Evans, from Cromarty on the Black Isle, was among a group of eight Highland demonstrators who took part in last weekend's protest at the main gate of the Faslane base, home of Scotland's Trident nuclear fleet.

Peace campaigners are gathering in St Andrews to urge Tony Blair to scrap Trident missiles and rule out any replacement for the weapons system. Members of Scotland 4 Peace organised the rally to coincide with the prime minister's visit to Fife for talks on the government of Northern Ireland.

At about 8.30am on Tuesday 10th October the Bristol & Southwest Blockaders joined other protesters at the year-long protest outside the Faslane Trident Nuclear Submarine base in Scotland and staged the first of the groups successful blockading actions. Four protesters sat down and linked arms across the road at the approach to the “South Gate” of the base and refused to move. Traffic into the base backed up along the approach road and police eventually were forced to move in and arrest the blockaders.

Representatives of the Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Quaker and other free-church members have gathered to discuss church responses to the proposed Trident replacement programme.

The Faslane main gate was different for a day. Relentless gray fencing and razor wire were enlivened by rainbow peace flags, streams of Tibetan prayer flags, banners for life, huge drawings celebrating the people of the peace movement, ribbons woven into the fence, a flame symbolising the transformation of the fires of Hiroshima into peaceful energy, hornpipes, jigs, reels, dancing and games, fiddle, whistle, saxophone and drums, transformed clown sailors and furry animals.

North Korea's nuclear test is only the latest failure of the west's proliferation policy. And it demonstrates the need to return to the proven methods of multilateral disarmament. Far from being crazy, the North Korean policy is quite rational. Faced with a US government that believes the communist regime should be removed from the map, the North Koreans pressed ahead with building a deterrent. George Bush stopped the oil supplies to North Korea that had been part of a framework to end its nuclear programme previously agreed with Bill Clinton. Bush had already threatened pre-emptive war - Iraq-style - against a regime he dubbed as belonging to the axis of evil.

A Swansea grandmother of 3 was arrested in Scotland at 9.00am this morning. De Murphy had chained her self with dozens of other people blockading the North gate of Faslane nuclear naval base. Her action has begun a whole year of disruption at the Clyde nuclear weapons base. A video journalist from Swansea based Undercurrents productions filmed the blockade this morning for a documentary to be released in 2007.

The United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea. Hands up everyone who feels proud to be on that list. Yes yes, I know, it's not comparing like for like. I mean, it's not like the US or the UK would launch an unprovoked attack on another country for entirely spurious reasons. The rest of the world are undoubtedly extremely happy that trusted, respected, peaceful nations like ourselves and our American masters allies have nuclear weapons. There's just no reason for people from other countries to think that British protestations are hypocritical.

Their relaxed demeanour (sitting on deckchairs around a sagging table of vegetarian snacks) suggest they've done this before. And haven't they just: these women are veterans of peaceful protest. In the 1980s and 90s, many of the 20 women here today were residents or visitors at the legendary Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp in Berkshire, where tens of thousands protested against nuclear missiles, causing great embarrassment to the Thatcher government. Now, 25 years after the Greenham camp's inception, nuclear arms are again in the news and protestors have gathered to kick-start Faslane365, a year-long blockade of the submarine base.

THE DEBATE over nuclear weapons is once again back in the spotlight and a group of Derbyshire residents are prepared to be arrested in order to make their protests heard this week. Around 40 people have travelled to Faslane, the home of Britain's submarine based nuclear weapons, with the intention of blockading the base.

Twelve women have been arrested outside the home of Scotland's Trident nuclear submarine fleet, at the start of a year-long blockade. About 60 female demonstrators took part in the protest at the main gate of the naval base at Faslane on the Clyde.

Jon Cruddas launched his bid for the deputy leadership last night with a sideswipe at Gordon Brown for pre-empting the party's debate about the replacement of the Trident nuclear weapon system. Mr Cruddas, 44, said the Chancellor's decision to commit himself to a full replacement for Trident before the party or the Cabinet had properly discussed it symbolised the authoritarian leadership that his campaign is designed to challenge.

In today's SNP debate in the Scottish Parliament, Roseanna Cunningham MSP called on the Parliament to reject any plans to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system, and set out the moral and political case against these weapons of mass destruction.

Dozens of Labour MPs have signed an open letter to the party chairman calling for a debate at the annual conference on the future of the Trident nuclear weapons system.

AN Edinburgh MP is calling for a Parliamentary debate on whether or not to replace the UK's nuclear deterrent. John Barrett, Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, today demanded a full and open debate in Parliament and across the country before a decision on the replacement of the Trident nuclear missile system is taken.

A BITTER "gagging" row erupted at a conference last night after delegates accused the Labourt Party hierarchy of stifling debate on the sensitive issue of whether or not to replace Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent.

The conference arrangements committee provoked further anger among delegates after it ruled that motions on the leadership of the party and on the replacement of Trident were both out of order.

Cabinet ministers yesterday urged the Labour leadership to open up the debate on renewing Britain's nuclear deterrent as delegates protested that they were being denied a vote on the issue. Hilary Benn, the international development secretary, called for a debate "both in conference, in the party, in the country and in parliament". He added: "The threat that we face in the world has changed but there's a real debate to be had over how we put that commitment into effect."

An 8am start is wearing on any day of the week, but on a Saturday it is particularly grinding. Nevertheless this Saturday saw a large contingent of protesters representing a variety of causes make the trip from Bristol to the Labour Party conference in Manchester to remind Tony Blair and friends that they are not wanted.

Cabinet Minister Peter Hain has issued a call for the Labour leadership to open up debate on the replacement of Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent. The party risked losing the support of "progressive" sections of society if it tried to impose a decision reached by "a couple of cabinet ministers" behind closed doors, he warned.

People were not only protesting against the current oil wars in the middle east, justified by the "war on terror". They were against the looming onslaught against Iran and the recent destruction of southern Lebanon. Against the even increasing military expenditure, symbolised by the plan to replace Trident and the corresponding cuts in social funding for the NHS and other welfare services. Placards identified Bush and Blair as the worlds number 1 and number 2 terrorists and that renewable energy doesn't require wars. There was a large number of trade union and peace movement banners from all across the UK.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

A small but determined group of peace campaigners made the long journey from Swindon to Manchester yesterday for the Time to Go march and rally around the GMEX centre where this year’s Labour party conference is being held. Here are some photos of the messages on display during the march.

TENS of thousands of anti war protesters gathered in Manchester this afternoon for a massive peace march through the city. They came from around the country to make their feelings about the Government clear ahead of the Labour Party conference, which starts a few hundred yards away tomorrow.

Thousands of anti-war protesters staged a mass "die-in" around the venue of Labour's annual conference to call on Tony Blair to bring back troops from Iraq - and then resign. Organisers of the demonstration in Manchester said up to 60,000 people from across the country joined the event, which passed off peacefully.

Some photos from the Manchester Labour Party Conference protest organised by the Stop the War coalition. I release these photos into the public domain. Use them as you wish.

There is usual dispute about numbers - I heard Sky and C4 talking about 10,000, which is obviously bollocks, as even the police estimate puts it at 20,000. Stop the war are reporting 60,000, so applying the Blairwatch rule of thumb [I wasn't out with our maths addict] the real number must be somewhere between what the police and organisers claim...

This was fantastic. I've never seen such a mix of joy and anticipation: the former deriving from the knowledge that Blair is finished, and the latter from a sense that a new field of possibilities is about to be opened up. The turnout for a non-London demo was far better than we had any right to expect. I really don't know if the dissent that was given ample fora today will even be heard of on the conference floor. God knows, the antiwar movement was completely absent from Labour's 2003 conference, and New Labour have moved effectively to block dissenting resolutions.

A huge demonstration has been organised in Manchester today as the Labour Conference was taking place. Thousands of people came from everywhere in the UK to express their disapproval of Tony Blair Foreign Policy and urge him to GO.

Reports from the Time to Go demonstration in Manchester, England, where more than 50,000 marched past the venue of the Labour Party conference demanding British troops go from Afghanistan and Iraq and Tony Blair goes from Downing Street.

Thousands of anti-war protesters have gathered in Manchester for what organisers said was "one of the biggest mobilisations outside London". Demonstrators were protesting against government policies in the Middle East and nuclear weapons, on the eve of the Labour Party conference in the city.

Peace activists from the UK have penetrated the French nuclear installation at the testing centre of Les Landes in Biscarosse near Bordeaux, which is involved in the development of a new generation of nuclear weapons.

Tens of thousands of anti-war supporters will take part in a huge demonstration on Saturday aimed at protesting over Government policies in the Middle East and against nuclear weapons. The march, supported by trade unions, students, politicians and activists from around the country, will be held in Manchester on the eve of the Labour Party conference in the city.

Lockheed Martin, incorporated in the US and the largest arms manufacturer in the world, is currently developing new nuclear Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is uncharacteristically shy about its UK Headquarters at Manning House, 22 Carlisle Place SW1. Maybe it does not want to attract the attention of the International Atomic Energy Authority? Iran is currently the focus of attention of the IAEA for enriching uranium to a level suitable for nuclear power production.

Liberal Democrats today rejected calls for the parliamentary vote on Trident to be delayed until they form their own policy next spring. Norman Baker, a former environment frontbench spokesman, led calls for ministers to ensure a Commons vote on the future of the nuclear warheads be held after the Lib Dem spring conference in Harrogate next year. The party's federal policy committee has held a consultation on the issue but will not be ready to form a full policy for another six months.

The true cost of replacing and operating the Trident nuclear missile system would be at least £76bn, according to estimates revealed today. Based on official figures, they take into account the initial cost of acquiring new Trident missiles and replacing Britain's existing nuclear submarines, and the annual running costs of maintaining the system and nuclear warheads over its 30-year life.

The leader of the Anglican Church in Wales, Archbishop Barry Morgan, has hit out at plans to upgrade the UK's Trident nuclear missile system. Dr Morgan said the £25bn costs could prevent 16,000 children dying each day from diseases caused by contaminated water and malnutrition.

Britain needs to give up its nuclear weapons if it is to have any authority in telling others not to develop them, campaigners said yesterday. The leaders of Scottish churches, peace campaigns, trade unionists, and MSPs were speaking as they ended their Long March for Peace, which has taken them from Faslane to Holyrood in five days.

Conference voted against replacing Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system, saying the money should be ploughed into public services instead. This vote came despite the TUC general council calling for more consultation on the issue and warning that jobs could be lost if Trident is not replaced.

FIVE hundred protesters arrived at the Scottish Parliament yesterday, having marched across the country in protest at plans to renew Britain's nuclear weapons arsenal.

Speaking as the Long Walk for Peace March concludes at the Scottish Parliament today (Tuesday) the SNP Depute Leader Nicola Sturgeon MSP said it highlighted why it was time to ditch Trident and time to ditch nuclear Labour.

A conference on the UK government's proposed replacement for the Trident nuclear weapon will take place on Thursday, 5 October at St Vincent's Centre, Carlisle Place. Speakers will be the Hon Douglas Roche, Bruce Kent and Pat Gaffney.

Speaking prior to today's events Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien, President of the Bishops, Conference of Scotland, said: "We are convinced that if it is immoral to use these weapons, it is also immoral to threaten their use. We urge the Government of the United Kingdom not to invest in a replacement for the Trident System and to begin the process of decommissioning these weapons with the intention of diverting the sums spent on nuclear weaponry to programmes of aid and development".

As it is, the Vanguard submarines based at Faslane go out on ocean jollies where they cruise around a bit and come home when they get bored. They can’t take part in exercises or war games because there is no known military contingency for which they could exercise. The missiles are no longer targeted anywhere, because Vladimir Putin wouldn’t like the idea that finger trouble could obliterate Moscow, St Petersburg and Tashkent in about 40 minutes. The idea of renewing this system at a cost of £30 billion is an offence against reason.

Anti-nuclear campaigners set off on an 85-mile walk to the Scottish Parliament yesterday to register their opposition to the replacement of Trident. Up to 100 people, including senior church officials, trade union activists and peace campaigners, set off from Faslane Naval Base in Argyll and Bute for Edinburgh.

JACK McConnell sparked an angry backlash from the Westminster government yesterday when he suggested Britain should offer to scrap its nuclear weapons in a disarmament deal with Iran. He told MSPs he believed Britain's nuclear deterrent could be used as a bargaining chip in international negotiations.

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rt Rev Alan McDonald, and the Archbishop of Glasgow, Dr Mario Conti, will join marchers today taking part in the Long Walk for Peace from Faslane to the Scottish Parliament.

JACK McConnell yesterday branded the SNP's plans to scrap Trident missiles as irresponsible. The First Minister claimed Trident could be used as a lever in future talks to secure safeguards and guarantees from countries such as Iran and North Korea. The warning came after he had been challenged by SNP Deputy Leader Nicola Sturgeon to say if he was in favour of the replacement of the Trident missile system.

Demonstrators on the "long walk for peace" are making their way this weekend to Holyrood. When they arrive from Faslane on Tuesday they will find the parliament deeply divided on their call to scrap Trident nuclear weapons.

A cross-country protest march against replacing the Trident nuclear weapon system has got under way. Up to 100 campaigners, including senior church officials and peace campaigners, set off from Faslane Naval Base in Argyll and Bute on Thursday.

The IAEA are particularly unhappy about the claim that "Iran is currently enriching Uranium to weapons grade using a 164-machine centrifuge cascade". They are mostly unhappy about this claim because it isn't actually true. The IAEA say Iran has managed to enrich Uranium up to 3.6% and that "weapons grade" is "commonly used to refer to uranium enriched to the order of 90% or more". I don't think you need to be a nuclear physisist to spot the problem there.

The trade unions have voted against replacing Britain's nuclear weapons system, saying the money should be ploughed into public services instead. Delegates at the TUC conference repeatedly attacked Trident. It came despite the TUC general council calling for more consultation on the issue and warning that jobs could be lost if Trident is not replaced.

PROTESTERS are set to bring Edinburgh city centre to a standstill as a massive anti-nuclear march snakes through the city. Organisers hope up to 1000 people will join a march to the Scottish Parliament, where campaigners will meet with MSPs. The protest is the culmination of an 85-mile hike from the Faslane naval base to Edinburgh by 50 protesters calling on politicians not to replace the base's Trident nuclear submarines when they come to the en

There was astonishment at the trial today in Helensburgh District Court of two protesters when two Ministry of Defence Police witnesses for the Crown said that they did not know the function of the base they guard - RNAD Coulport, where Trident nuclear warheads are stored and loaded onto nuclear weapon submarines.

On 7th September three Trident Ploughshares peace activists were found guilty in Derby Magistrates court today for blockading the entrance to Rolls Royce Raynesway. They were each given £250 fine and £400 court costs.

With the IAEA arguing that some 40 states are already technologically capable of producing nuclear weapons, it is as well to ask which is the greater threat to Britain’s wellbeing: further nuclear proliferation, regional arms races and a world of 40 or more nuclear states, with varying precautions against theft and misuse? Or unspecified dangers in the distant future, derived from "worst-case" analyses of hypothetical scenarios in an unpredictable world?

Charles Clarke yesterday attacked a number of Labour's flagship policies and claimed that tensions between No 10, the Treasury and the Cabinet Office had often hamstrung the government. In his first speech since being ousted in the May reshuffle, Mr Clarke gave a damning analysis of the party's predicament and argued that it needed to apply "deep thought" to its future.

He criticised Tony Blair's backing for a new generation of nuclear power stations, Gordon Brown's support for the maintenance of nuclear weapons, and called for higher green taxes and the implementation of the Tomlinson report on schools.

Nuclear weapons represent a grave threat to the human family and, as a result, the Catholic Church urges governments to work towards the goal of disarmament, the Vatican said in a letter supporting the Scottish bishops’ statement against replacement of the Trident missile system.

Four Trident Ploughshares peace activists are on trial in Derby Magistrates court today for blockading the entrance to Rolls Royce Raynesway last October. They believe that since Britain’s nuclear weapons policy is illegal, immoral and dangerous, the work carried out at Rolls Royce Raynesway to power Trident is also illegal, immoral and dangerous. They are therefore pleading not guilty to charges of obstruction of the public highway on the grounds that they had a right and a duty under international law to try to prevent the work from being carried out.

The Scottish Bishops,' and in particular, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, have been vocal on the issue that there is no moral justification for the replacement of Trident. But now, the Holy See’s former representative to the UN, current President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Renato Martino has sent a letter to Cardinal O'Brien endorsing the bishops' April declaration which urged "the government of the United Kingdom not to invest in a replacement for the Trident system.'

The Vatican has backed the opposition of Scotland's Catholic bishops to the Trident missile system and its possible replacement. Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, sent a letter to Cardinal Keith O'Brien endorsing the bishops' April declaration which urged "the government of the United Kingdom not to invest in a replacement for the Trident system."

BLUNDERS at Britain’s nuclear bomb bases on the Clyde rose dramatically last year, provoking fears about the safety of extending the lives of the Triden- carrying submarines stationed there. Internal reports from the Royal Navy obtained by the Sunday Herald reveal that the number of serious or significant “nuclear safety events” at Faslane and Coulport, near Helensburgh, has doubled. There were 45 such incidents between June 2004 and May 2005, twice the average for the previous four years.

Two people from the international Vine and Fig Tree planters (Post Protest Community) who planted trees in Aldermaston in August 2005 begin to augment the altering of matters by appearing in Reading court to initiate changes themselves.

The former home secretary Charles Clarke today enters the growing debate about Labour's future, warning that formidable fault lines have opened between the party and the electorate. He says the gap has emerged partly because both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown seemed willing to impose big policy changes, such as renewing the Trident nuclear system or backing a new wave of nuclear power stations, from "on high".

In their statement, issued on the 61st anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, friars, sisters and lay members of the International Justice & Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission of the Carmelite Order said: "We Carmelites gathered in Fatima promoting Justice and Peace in a globalised world are present today on the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima to speak out and to condemn violence in all its forms. We condemn war. the production and use of nuclear weapons and violence committed by one nation against another nation. We promote the teaching expressed in the prophet Isaiah Chapter 2 - "They will beat their swords into ploughshares .... They will train for war no more."

A GRANNY for peace has been promoting her anti-war message in Chester city centre. Joan Meredith, 76, of Brereton Close, Malpas, spent hours handing out leaflets against Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system near the date of the anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

THE CND petition against the renewal of Trident, which a group of us have been taking round the churches and chapels in Hexham, produced a mixed reaction. But the most overwhelming support, almost unanimous, came from the congregation of St Mary’s RC Church.

On August 9th, Nagasaki Day, 11 civilian weapons inspectors drove up Empire Grade Road and marched the last 1/2 mile to the gates of Lockheed Martin where the public road ends. The Santa Cruz Weapons Inspection Team (SCWIT) led the march marking the annihilation and devastation delivered to the people, animals and plants of Nagasaki, Japan, targeted on August 9th, 1945, by nuclear bombs far less powerful than the ones Lockheed Martin presently manufactures. The nonviolent action included the delivery of a letter from the people of Santa Cruz to Tom and Chip of Lockheed Martin suggesting they produce peaceful technologies instead of weapons like the Trident II (D5), Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBM) armed with nuclear warheads. Paper flowers with messages to Lockheed were attached to the fence, a "peace bush" was planted and anti-nuclear songs were sung outside the gates of Lockheed Martin, the world's largest weapons contractor.

Peace campaigners in Swindon were in attendance at the annual “Lanterns on the Lake” event at Coate Water, to highlight the reason for the event – the anniversary of the world’s first, and hopefully last, act of nuclear warfare, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and also to publicise the protest at Brize Norton this coming Saturday. Things got a bit heated when an Israeli man and his wife took exception to the leaflets being handed out, but fortunately it ended with handshakes and good wishes.

On the 6th August 2006 members of Wrekin Stop war took part in an action to mark the 61st anniversary of the atomic destruction of the civilian city of Hiroshima. The action took place at the Cosford RAF museum and training base in Staffordshire. Many visitors come to this museum to see the sanitized history of British death culture. The facility has many modern fighter planes, nuclear warhead delivery systems and other military equipment on display.

Kitsap County sheriff's deputies and Navy security personnel made the arrests Monday morning when members of the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo tried to block State Route 308 in front of the main gate to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor on Hood Canal north of Bremerton, Deputy Scott Wilson said.

Four other protesters were detained and later released by security personnel after crossing a blue line that marks the border between county and federal jurisdiction at the base, the West Coast home port for Trident submarines that are equipped to carry nuclear missiles.

On August 6th, the Santa Cruz Weapons Inspection Team (SCWIT) dismantled a Trident II D5 nuclear submarine missile during a skit on the Pacific Garden Mall to mark the 61st anniversary of the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. A 4,400 acre Lockheed Martin facility at the end of Empire Grade in Bonny Doon manufactures and tests Contained Detonating Fuses (CDFs) for the Trident II D5 nuclear submarine missile. This is the third year that SCWIT has organized activities commemorating the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, on August 6th and 9th, 1945.

It has been estimated by some sources that up to 200,000 people died in the Hiroshima region as a result of that single bomb being dropped. This Sunday, 50 people from many different backgraounds came together by the River Cam to commemorate this stark event. And at a time when a Nuclear Power is currently attacking one of it's neighbours in the Middle East, this couldn't be a more poignant moment to remember how the post Nuclear world we now live in came to be.

Walter Wolfgang, 83, a vice-president of CND, who has been elected to the Labour party's national executive, yesterday handed in a petition to Downing Street signed by more than 50,000 people opposed to a new generation of Trident missiles. He said there was "no point" to nuclear weapons and he planned to raise opposition to Trident when he attends his first meeting of the NEC.

A CND-commissioned ICM poll shows that 59% oppose the government replacing Trident, Britain's nuclear weapons system. CND today handed in a petition with over 53,000 signatures calling on the government not to replace Trident or develop any new nuclear weapons system.

Power is now more centralised in Britain than at any time since the second world war. Within Whitehall power has been sucked upwards to No 10, and at the same time it has drained away from the cabinet, the parliamentary Labour party and the national executive and funnelled towards more presidential rule from the centre. Unlike in the US, however, where power is shared between the president and a countervailing Congress, presidential power in the UK commands every aspect of the power structure and, with few exceptions, can enforce its will without consultation or concession.

Last night two peace activists were arrested after painting a prominent peace message outside Faslane naval base, where Britain’s Trident nuclear weapon submarines are berthed. For years a rock slab at the perimeter of the fence has been an important additional notice board at the base, alerting unsuspecting passers-by to what is going on behind the razor wire. Last year the base authorities had the slogan painted over but last night Sylvia Boyes (62), from Keighley inYorkshire, and Jane Tallents (48), from Helensburgh, repainted it with the legend: TRIDENT IS TERROR.

The UK government should move with haste to begin burying the country's radioactive waste deep underground, says the Royal Society. The national scientific body made its call as the panel tasked with finding a long-term solution to the waste problem prepared to issue its final report. The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management has already said that deep geological disposal is the best option.

Five anti-nuclear protesters blockaded a military base by chaining themselves together outside its entrance. The demonstrators turned up at the main gate of Coulport naval base in Argyll and Bute at 0700 BST on Tuesday.

SO, if he becomes leader of New Labour and assuming they stay in power, Mr Gordon Brown wishes to retain and enhance our (so-called) independent nuclear (so-called) deterrent. Against whom and to what end, I must ask? BBC TV News has just reported that the Israeli navy has kindly lifted its blockade of the Port of Beirut to allow us a brief period to evacuate our British citizens away from the Israeli terror bombardment of the Lebanon.

Photos of Nuclear Warhead convoy passing Oxford on the A34 heading north from AWE Burghfield in Berkshire to RNAD Coulport in Scotland (near Faslane). 10:20 am 22/07/06

Responding to today's (Thursday) announcement by Jack Straw at Business Questions in the House of Commons confirming that the Government will allow MPs a vote on whether the UK will replace the Trident nuclear missile system, the SNP's Chief Whip, Pete Wishart MP, welcomed the concession.

MPs will be given the chance to veto replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system, says Commons Leader Jack Straw.
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It would be "inconceivable" ministers could press ahead with renewing Trident if MPs rejected it, Mr Straw argued. Questioned by reporters, Mr Straw declined to say when the vote would take place. But he said he was confident there was majority backing on the Labour benches for renewing Trident. The Conservatives are also likely to back such a move - meaning the government would win any vote.

The leader of the House of Commons, Jack Straw, confirmed today that MPs will get a vote on the decision to replace Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent.
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One Labour backbencher, Jeremy Corbyn, warned Mr Blair recently that a decision to buy a replacement system would reduce "any moral clout we might have in encouraging other states not to develop their own nuclear weapons".

MPs will be given a vote on whether Britain should renew the Trident nuclear deterrent force, said House of Commons Leader Jack Straw. However, he indicated that the matter would be treated as 'normal business', meaning that MPs would be expected to vote in line with the government and not exercise a free vote.

A PETITION against the proposed replacement of Britain's Trident nuclear weapons arsenal has been handed to Bolton North-east MP David Crausby.
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Eric Hyland, who is a member of the Green Party in Bolton, handed over the petition. He said: "Britain is a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and has made an unequivocal undertaking to accomplish the total elimination of its nuclear arsenal. "A decision to replace Trident would run counter to our treaty commitment, costing billions of pounds, escalating global tensions and undermine rather than securing Britain's security."

SNP Campaign Director, and Shadow Minister for Defence, Angus Robertson MP has today (Monday) revealed figures showing what people in Scotland will lose if Labour is allowed to go ahead with spending billions on an un-needed and unwanted replacement for Trident.

Only a handful of powers are rich or assertive enough to fund a comprehensive range of weapons systems to address the entire spectrum of nuclear and conventional threats. The rest of us are obliged to make choices. Planners assess a range of contingencies, and buy weapons to meet the most likely. Often they get it wrong. They simply hope to get enough right to muddle through, recognising that acquiring one system means doing without something else. We have Apache helicopters, so we cannot afford Blackhawks. We order aircraft-carriers, which may mean fewer tanks. If we replace Trident, in 20 years the Treasury could be insisting that the army makes do with fewer foot soldiers.

HUNDREDS of lanterns will be launched on Coate Water next month. The event, which begins at 2pm on August 9, is in aid of World Peace Day. It takes place on the anniversary of the explosion of atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The contradictions in the replace-oil-for-uranium-and-bingo! argument seem to have been overlooked somewhat by mainstream commentators. The point nobody seems to have made this week is, like oil and gas which it is expected to largely replace under the plans in the Energy Review, uranium is a *finite* resource. It was an issue studiously avoided by the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir David King, in his it's-nuclear-or-nothing scaremongering in The Independent yesterday. As with oil and gas, what happens when the uranium runs out? Some estimates suggest that current global reserves will be exhausted in as little as fifty years. The rate of consumption of uranium will only increase if more nuclear power stations are built in order to reduce our reliance on oil and gas-generated electricity, meaning those reserves may be depleted even faster. That makes declarations of nuclear power as a herald of future energy security and stability sound a bit over-optimistic.

From 29th July to 12th August anti-Trident protesters will gather for a disarmament camp at Peaton Wood on Loch Long, just half a mile away from RNAD Coulport where nuclear warheads are stored and loaded onto Trident submarines.

Much public discussion in Britain in recent weeks has focused on the government's plans to acquire a successor to the Trident nuclear-weapons system. This is clearly a vital issue, but it must also be seen in the context of an assessment of Britain's security needs in the 21st century as a whole. In this light, the plan to build two enormous aircraft-carriers is also a revealing sign of strategic thinking and priorities.

HE Government is to give MPs a vote on replacing or updating the Trident nuclear deterrent. In a move that is certain to expose Labour divisions on the issue, ministers believe that they should provide an opportunity for a decision by the Commons rather than having one forced on them by the Conservatives. They calculate that a vote is certain to succeed because the Tories will support the replacement or modernisation of Trident.

Tony Blair today hinted that MPs could get a vote on replacing Britain's controversial Trident nuclear deterrent. Although there is no strict precedent for a vote on purchasing military hardware, the prime minister told the Commons at question time that giving parliament a say was a "strong possibility". Until now, the most Mr Blair has been willing to promise is a "full debate" and wide consultation. With virtually unanimous Conservative backing for the £25bn new nuclear weapons system, a vote in the Commons would almost certainly be won, however big any Labour rebellion.

We have an international obligation to pursue negotiations towards a treaty on "general and complete disarmament".

Compare that to what Blair says he is willing to negotiate towards "progressively over time"; he says his government is prepared to negotiate towards a "reduction in nuclear capability". That is clearly not the same thing.

This isn't splitting hairs. A commitment by the nuclear weapons states to work towards "general and complete disarmament" is one of the fundamental pillars of the NNPT. This trade off, the promise not to develop nuclear weapons by non-nuclear states set against the disarmament commitment of the nuclear states, is one of the key reasons why the NNPT has been ratified by over 150 non-nuclear states.

A Commons vote on replacing the Trident nuclear deterrent system is a "strong possibility", the prime minister said today.
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Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn today questioned whether the government was still committed to its obligations under the 1970 nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which calls on the five main nuclear powers to steadily reduce their nuclear weapons. "Rearming reduces any moral clout we have in encouraging other states not to develop nuclear weapons," he told MPs during prime minister's questions.

Despite a heavy police presence, campaigners staged a series of co-ordinated blockades at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston yesterday morning, They closed the main entrances to the Orion construction site for up to one hour. Ten people were arrested, including two from Bristol.

The British government's plans to source a new generation of nuclear missiles in the United States undermine the possibility of a progressive foreign policy, says Dan Plesch.

That is the essence of the current argument. The government says we can't do without nuclear; George, along with many others, disagrees. Both positions can't be right and I'm obviously disinclined to take anything this government says on trust. They habitually claim that there is no alternative to the policies they advocate and it is almost always utter nonsense designed to stifle legitimate debate based on the facts.

So, can anyone direct me to the evidence, preferably from impartial sources rather than the nuclear lobby, which shows that the energy gap cannot be plugged unless we build a new generation of nuclear power stations? I've done some research and I'm not convinced. George appears to have done a lot more and he isn't either.

Your leader advocating Britain take a "controlled step into a non-nuclear future" (July 8) was itself the "brave and right thing to do". It is arguably the most balanced and insightful comment on this subject by a British newspaper to date, but I must question one of your assumptions: that a non-nuclear policy would be met by hostility in Washington, and that "other forms of intelligence and cooperation would fall away". I think this is unlikely, since there is much more to UK-US security cooperation than nuclear technology sharing.

The Bishop of Bradford has warned the Prime Minister Tony Blair that the possession of Trident nuclear weapons is "evil" and "profoundly anti-God".

Anti-nuclear campaigners like to portray the government as being in the pocket of the nuclear industry. How else, they argue, do you explain the return to favour - expected to be confirmed this week by the government's energy review - of an industry once written-off as dirty, dangerous and cripplingly expensive?

This mornings protest, which was attended by 60 people including Caroline Lucas MEP, continued for longer than expected after the police imposed an order under section 14 of the Public Order Act, preventing anyone from leaving before midday without seeking permission from the senior officer present. The senior officer refused to reveal the grounds on which he would release protestors. This raises concerns that protestors are suffering arbitrary detention as defined by the Human Rights Act. Legal advice is being sought by the protestors.

The government is expected to release its energy review on Tuesday, setting out its plans for the development of the UK's energy sector, and how to tackle controversial topics that include the future of nuclear and renewable power. Newspaper reports over the weekend suggested the government was preparing to announce that nuclear power was "economically viable".

"In every area relating to modern nuclear weaponry, our activities are challenging frontiers," says the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston, which offers 181 vacancies related to the development of British nuclear warheads. Officially, no decision has been taken on what should happen when Britain's existing Trident fleet becomes too old to continue its ceaseless patrol under the sea. Des Browne, the defence minister, promises a white paper on the subject, but the AWE's hunt for fallout modellers and firing officers ("for explosive trials to support the development of warhead related science") hints at a different reality. There may be a Commons vote but the outcome appears set: the Trident system will be upgraded and replaced, to keep Britain's place at the table of nuclear players.

We are looking at costs of anywhere between £10 billion to £25 billion to replace Trident. There are complexities over whether you replace the delivery mechanism as well as the missiles - all these unknowns. In contrast the NHS deficits this year amount to £512 million.

SELDOM HAVE there been finer examples than this July of the propensity of humans and our institutions to reinforce failure. We carry on marching towards what we suspect is the abyss for little better reason than that it would be embarrassing to break ranks. Betrothed to our own doom, we shrink from breaking off the engagement because the wedding ring has been purchased, the deposit on the marquee is non-returnable and the bride’s mother would be devastated.

The Conservatives have said nuclear power should be used only as "a last resort" to supply the UK with energy. Their Energy Review's interim findings say there should be a "level playing field" for environmentally-friendly sources and other means of power.

An accident involving Trident nuclear warheads being moved on Britain's roads could lead to a partial nuclear blast, an internal Ministry of Defence report admits. The document, obtained by New Scientist magazine, says such an explosion could potentially deliver a lethal radiation dose to the surrounding area. The MoD describes the risk as significant enough for drawing up contingency plans to deal with such an event. The warheads are regularly transported by road convoy between military facilities in the UK. The weapons are moved between submarine bases in Scotland and repair and maintenance facilities at the Berkshire sites of Aldermaston and Burghfield. One convoy round trip happens roughly every two to three months.

When David Mackenzie, a Scottish anti-nuclear activist concerned about bomb convoys driving over weight-restricted bridges, filed a freedom-of-information request, he was told that the MoD could not release information on convoy routes or axle weights because that might help terrorists plan an attack. "Such an attack has the potential to lead to damage or destruction of a nuclear weapon," wrote the MoD's director of information, David Wray, in May. "The consequences of such an incident are likely to be considerable loss of life and severe disruption both to the British people's way of life and to the UK's ability to function effectively as a sovereign state."

In the 1980s nuclear weapons were a burning issue. What to do in the event of an impending strike was the subject of both idle discussions and serious debate, from schoolyards to building sites. Head for the hills to avoid being vaporised, or to a major city to get it over and done with? Then, the feeling that the Cold War was warming helped the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament to reach its zenith. Launched in 1958, it sowed the seeds of one of its most famous protests in August 1981 when a small group of women set up a peace camp at Greenham Common base, where cruise missiles were due to be sited.

The mayor of Hiroshima is to join a protest at a UK weapons establishment to back a campaign calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Tadatoshi Akiba will be leading an international delegation of Mayors for Peace as they visit the UK outside the Aldermaston site in Berkshire. Dr Akiba will demand urgent steps to abolish nuclear weapons in Britain and across the world.

Britain's nuclear weapon system could be slimmed down to reduce the £25bn cost of a replacement to Trident and defuse some of the controversy facing Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

A senior cabinet minister last night attacked government proposals to commission a new generation of nuclear power stations, arguing against their potential financial and environmental costs. Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary, gave his backing to renewable energy sources and warned that the public would not accept a "gung-ho" approach to nuclear power.

Keith Sonnet is deputy general secretary of the Unison union, which recently passed a motion condemning Britain’s nuclear weapons. He told Socialist Worker, “We don’t see any external threat to this country. The government talks about a terrorist threat, but Trident does not help with this. The system will be based on US support – it can’t even be fired without their permission – so it’s not an independent deterrent either. The money could be better spent on public services. It will cost £25 billion to replace Trident. The government’s recent Gershon review looked to save almost exactly the same amount.”

BAE Systems Plc, Europe's No. 1 arms maker, would likely be the main beneficiary of a U.K. decision to build a new fleet of Trident-missile launching submarines, a program that may cost as much as 25 billion pounds ($45 billion).
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The British government is investing 350 million pounds annually through 2008 at the Atomic Weapons Establishment to ensure the effectiveness of its stockpile of nuclear warheads, benefiting a venture of Serco Group Plc, Lockheed and British Nuclear Fuels Plc. Under current test-ban treaties, Britain can't detonate an atomic weapon to check if it works.

Less than a week after Gordon Brown committed the government to retaining a British-manufactured nuclear weapon, a Defence Select Committee report has raised strong and searching questions about the need to replace Trident. Meanwhile, NVDA camapign group Block the Builders is preparing to take action at AWE Aldermaston - Britain's Trident production site - on 10 July.

Peter Hain has broken rank with the Cabinet to express doubts about building new nuclear power stations.
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Mr Hain said: "If there has to be nuclear to keep the lights on, if there has to be, and this is a question the energy review will decide, it can only stand on its own two feet it can't have any special support or any special privileges or subsidies. And there's been massive subsidy, around £70bn pounds worth of liabilities from the old nuclear power programme we can never go down that road again because otherwise that would crowd out renewable energy and the future forms of energy that could come on stream in decades to come. So if there has to be a new nuclear power station or three or four or whatever it might be that is up to private developers. They have to finance it, they have to sort out the decommissioning costs they have to deal with the waste disposal costs and make sure it's safe and then if in order to keeps the lights on people decide there has to be nuclear, I'm sceptical about it."

SAY no to nuclear weapons. That is the message to Gordon Brown from members of his own party in Leyton.

On Friday 30 June Trident Ploughshares organised a nuclear trains day of action highlighting the transport by rail of the old, highly radioactive fuel rods from the Trident submarines being re-fitted in Devonport. They are taken almost the length of the country to Sellafield in Cumbria, passing through major urban areas.

THE Church of Scotland, the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland and the Scottish Episcopal Church are to be applauded for declaring that nuclear weapons are morally repugnant, and that the use of weapons of mass destruction would be a crime against God and against humanity. The introduction of Trident represented a significant escalation in the UK's capacity to carry out such mass destruction.

Britain could consider scaling back its strategic nuclear deterrent in the light of the reduced threat of a nuclear attack, MPs said. The Commons Defence Committee said that in the post-Cold War era, it may no longer be necessary always to maintain a Trident nuclear submarine at sea.

On the eve of what could possibly be a period of open debate about the role of Britain's nuclear weapons, it might be useful to trace this somewhat hidden history. This could serve the purpose of revealing matters that successive governments prefer to avoid discussing in public, and thus help ensure a more interesting debate.
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Although the publicly acknowledged "declaratory" policy remains one of "last resort" use of nuclear weapons, the "deployment" policy involves the idea of nuclear war-fighting that falls far short of responding to a nuclear attack on Britain. This is the long-standing reality. It could certainly liven up the forthcoming debate on replacing Trident if this enduring feature of British nuclear-weapons policy got a really thorough airing.

Nuclear weapons are murderous, expensive and make the world more unsafe. Gordon Brown's support for a new version of Trident is a huge mistake.

Tony Blair confirmed yesterday that the government would make the decision on the future of the Trident nuclear deterrent later this year but he refused to concede to MPs' demands for a Commons vote on the issue.

“Can the Prime Minister tell us, in plain English, will the house of Commons have a vote on whether Trident is replaced?” said Dave, as if he were throwing down the gauntlet. Mr Blair looked bemused. Obviously he refused to speak plainly, on principle. He announced that he wanted the “fullest possible debate” on Trident. He avoided even saying the word “vote”. He said that all would become clear, at some point, but not now.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has refused to bow to calls for him to promise MPs a House of Commons vote on replacing Britain's nuclear weapons system. Mr Blair told MPs a decision on replacing Trident would be taken later this year, saying he favoured the move. Asked repeatedly whether MPs would get a vote, he said there would be the "fullest debate" but the way to consult people had yet to be decided.

Speaking at an anti-Trident debate in Glasgow, The Right Rev Alan McDonald criticised the Chancellor for defending his decision in the manner that he had. "In Scotland, in the church where his father was a Church of Scotland minister, Gordon Brown said he was sure his late father would have agreed with him about nuclear weapons. Well who knows, but we do know that the Church of Scotland has opposed nuclear weapons for the past 25 years," the minister said.

Whether the Trident nuclear delivery system is upgraded, therefore keeping the British weapons of mass destruction, is a great moral, military and, costing £25 billion, financial issue. And on that great moral, military and financial issue Scotland's First Minister is made to look like a chump because he dare not be seen or heard to disagree with his London masters.

Former Greenham Common protester Mrs Hipperson claimed the decision announced recently by Chancellor Gordon Brown flew in the face of the UK's commitments under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. "Under the Crown prerogative the Prime Minister can bypass Parliament and go ahead with the replacement for Trident. This must not be allowed to happen. MPs must be given the right to vote on any decision to replace Trident," she said.

By supporting the replacement of Trident nuclear weapons, Gordon Brown has transmogrified into a Gollum, desperate to grasp power and join the Mutual Admiration Diarchy where far-right Republicanism and New Labour are congenial companions and where MAD just gets even MADDER.
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MORE than 20 years ago I visited a cactus nursery in Norfolk which had a white one-gallon plastic bottle hanging in a tree. I was told it was there to prevent the outbreak of nuclear war. Can anyone say that it hasn't worked?

With a decision due to be made about Trident within the lifetime of this parliament, Tony Blair promised the "fullest possible" public debate on the matter. Brown's statement appears to pre-empt this, just as Blair's statement on nuclear power stations gazumps the public debate on that issue as well. This is what passes for consultation and debate in the Orwellian word we increasingly inhabit.
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As one part of that debate, the Prime Minister-in-waiting should be compelled to answer questions from the Christian base he calls his own. Here are one or two for starters. How Christian is it to lecture nations about disarming while developing a new generation of weapons of mass destruction yourself? What is the religiously justifiable reason for spending telephone-number figures on a weapons system designed for the cold war while millions of people lack clean drinking water and basic medical care?

In the week that the Defence Committee meets to demand that ministers start preparing immediately to replace Trident, disruption was caused during yesterdays early morning workshift entering RNAD Coulport.

GORDON Brown has announced that he is committed to developing a new generation of nuclear weapons to replace the current Trident system. Has he forgotten already that just over three years ago he voted in favour of invading Iraq on the pretext of an alleged programme of weapons of mass destruction?

The political arguments in favour of renewal, in particular not to leave an open goal for the Conservatives on the issue, should not obscure the irrelevance of the deterrent in the face of the threats. One cannot deter global warming, Islamic terrorism, small-arms trafficking or collapsed states with nuclear weapons. Nor can one dissuade others from acquiring nuclear weapons by articulating the virtues of keeping our own in perpetuity. The estimated £15-25 billion cost of Trident’s replacement could go a very long way towards meeting Britain’s pressing security needs at home and in strengthening our armed forces fighting for Britain’s interests abroad.

The fact is that Brown, who controls the government purse strings, has virtually doubled the sums for the Atomic Weaponry Establishment at Aldermaston, Britain's nuke factory, over the past two years, from just under $500 million a year to almost $900 million. A new Orion laser system, designed to recreate the temperatures inside the sun or a nuclear explosion, has been built. Hundreds of new nuclear scientists are being hired. Under Blair or Brown, the British are staying in the nuclear business, whether their left wing likes it or not.

Days after Gordon Brown gave his blessing to calls for a new nuclear deterrent, the government will draw up a blueprint for producing an armoury to face the changing threats of the modern world.
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Plus a comment: As well as being a monumental waste of taxpayer's money, the Trident nuclear weapon delivery systems, which deliver multiple nuclear bombs each of which is capable of wiping out a city the size of London or New York, will serve to motivate rather than deter international terrorism and will immeasurably increase the chances of a nuclear exchange.

SNP leader Alex Salmond yesterday accused Gordon Brown of "selling his Scottish soul" as he bids to become the next Prime Minister. At the SNP's annual Bannockburn rally, he also labelled the Chancellor "Dr Strangebrown" for speaking out in favour of Trident. The Chancellor angered peace groups by calling for an independent nuclear deterrent "for the long term".

The Rev Alan McDonald, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien, President of the Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference of Scotland, have responded to UK Chancellor Gordon Brown’s backing for Britain’s so-called independent nuclear deterrent by saying that the deployment and use of nuclear arms is theologically and morally wrong.

Gordon Brown this week announced his personal commitment to developing a new nuclear weapons programme to replace the UK's ageing Trident system when it finally bites the dust. Does Brown's announcement show him to be the sort of person who is strong enough to lead the country? Or does it show him to be exactly the sort of person who should not achieve such a position of power? Has the outcome of the "debate" on the future of Trident already been decided by the government? Does posession of nuclear weapons make the country more or less secure?

Maintaining the boats and their nuclear payloads costs the British taxpayer about £2bn a year and eats up 4% of the defence budget at a time when soldiers are complaining about shortages of armoured Land Rovers and the RAF cannot afford basic explosive-suppressant foam protection for its transport fleet.

Clare Short, the former international development secretary who resigned after the Iraq war, said she could no longer support Mr Brown as prime minister after he had pre-empted a promised parliamentary debate on the future of Britain's independent nuclear deterrent.

Miss Short told BBC Radio 4's World at One that Mr Brown had been "disrespectful of any kind of democratic process" by using his annual Mansion House speech on Wednesday to announce such a major policy decision before MPs had been given a chance to express their views.

"I can't support that kind of leader, absolutely not," she said. "It means a lot people who were happy to see Brown take over as leader will now think there's got to be a contest and we're not willing to support him."

GORDON Brown's support for replacing the Trident nuclear arsenal yesterday succeeded in triggering fury among Labour MPs, with some left-wingers threatening a challenge to the Chancellor's leadership bid. Clare Short, the former development secretary who has been a high-profile supporter of Mr Brown, accused him of "disrespecting" the democratic process with his "outrageous" Mansion House speech on Wednesday night. Trades union leaders, long regarded as reliable supporters of Mr Brown, also expressed unhappiness at the Chancellor's "long-term" commitment to an independent nuclear deterrent, something that could cost as much as £20 billion.

In one sense it was too easy for the SNP's parliamentary leader. If you believe that there is no "moral, economic, military or legal case" for nuclear rearmament you really don't need to labour your point. The eloquence of brevity follows. If you also know that your opponents are shifting uneasily in their seats, the task is easier still. All those veterans of the old "nuclear-free Scotland" campaigns on the Labour benches had a very bad case of posterior-ache yesterday. What had Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, just done to them, and with a single speech? The author of The Red Book on Scotland, the chosen one, favours a new generation of nukes? He will happily spend £25bn (and then some) just to lease the latest in American missiles? You could almost picture the Labour thought-bubbles: voters aren't going to like this.

Ex-Cabinet minister Peter Mandelson has questioned Gordon Brown's support for nuclear weapons, saying the Labour Party should have a vote on the issue. Mr Mandelson said he was unsure how the party would react to Mr Brown's call to replace the Trident weapons system. Most of the party would say "Let's have a debate about the future of nuclear capacity in this country", he said. Downing Street has said there will be a "full debate" on Trident's future but did not promise MPs a vote.

Today (Friday) Mr Alex Salmond MP, Leader of the SNP, has written to all opposition leaders to rally support for a Parliamentary vote to be required to approve any replacement for the Trident missile system.

With reports that Gordon Brown's 'long term' support for a nuclear missile system has caused widespread dismay amongst Labour backbenchers, and the Conservative's Oliver Letwin signalling on Question Time last night that he supported a Parliamentary vote on replacing Trident, the SNP Leader believes the time is right to introduce a Cross-Party Bill giving the House of Commons the final say over any Trident replacement.

The storing, accumulating and replacing of nuclear weapons risks the immoral use of weapons of mass destruction, said the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, urging the British government not to replace the Trident nuclear missile system.

Gordon Brown's Mansion house speech last night may be laying the foundations for the government to announce their decision to build the next generation of nuclear weapons - but nothing in his speech is new. The leader-in-waiting reportedly already told us what he thinks about Trident earlier this year. [1] It was even old news then - the government's commitment to the continuing possession of nuclear weapons was made in the 1998 Strategic Defence review.

The real story - if you look behind the smoke and mirrors - is that behind the fence at AWE Aldermaston, work has already started on laying the foundations for the Orion laser. Constructing and kitting out Orion is a £183 million project, [2] including a laser hall 1,000 times more powerful than AWE's existing Helen laser, which will allow AWE to test materials under laboratory conditions replicating a nuclear explosion.

Facing demands from nearly 100 Labour MPs for a full Commons vote on whether to spend £25bn replacing Trident, Downing Street today promised a white paper and a "proper debate" in due course.
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The chancellor was warned by one of the party's largest donors that his pledge to replace Trident would lose Labour the next general election. Delegates at Unison's annual conference in Bournemouth lined up to attack the idea of spending billions of pounds on a new nuclear weapons. The 1,700 delegates voted unanimously to oppose the replacement of Trident and to call for the decommissioning of the existing weapons system, and urged the government not to conclude any agreements without a vote in Parliament.

Gordon Brown yesterday sprung a surprise - and asserted his growing authority as prime minister-in-waiting - by unexpectedly announcing that he is committed to ensuring Britain retains its independent nuclear deterrent, a move that could cost the taxpayer between £13bn and £25bn.

There are two key issues that need to be dealt with here. The first involves the process of decision-making, which is actually a principled issue of democracy and accountability. Since Reid's announcement last September, MPs and anti-nuclear activists have been working to ensure that all options are on the table for debate, including the option of not replacing Trident. We have also been working to ensure that the deciding vote is taken by parliament, not by the prime minister or cabinet, behind closed doors as has been done in the past. So far, most recently yesterday, the prime minister has refused to be drawn on this question. But it is quite clear that the overwhelming majority of people believe that such an important issue must be decided by our elected representatives.

Speaking, during a visit to the Royal Highland Show, the Moderator said: "When the Prime Minister is calling for a debate on the possible replacement of Trident, it is essential that people understand that the churches stand united in the belief that nuclear weapons are morally and theologically wrong. As Disciples of Christ, our calling is to be peacemakers today in the world. There can be no place for weapons of mass destruction in a world that God loves so much."

Ex-Cabinet minister Clare Short has warned Gordon Brown his support for new UK nuclear weapons could damage his chances of becoming prime minister. Ms Short said it was "outrageous" Mr Brown had signalled that he wanted to replace the Trident weapons system. She said she and other Labour MPs would not vote for him in a leadership contest unless he changed his mind. Downing Street said there would be a "full debate" on Trident's future but did not promise MPs a vote.

Gordon Brown has signalled that he wants to keep and renew Britain's independent nuclear deterrent. The Trident missile system and the Vanguard submarines which carry them need replacing by 2024 and a decision is set to be taken in the next year.

So Gordon has announced that he wants the UK to retain an independent nuclear deterrent thus prejudging the "debate" we're all going to be allowed to have on this. Hurray! Is he Prime Minister already then? And I was hoping he'd be an improvement. Yeah, I suppose that was daft. What can I say? I'm an eternal optimist. Well, I used to be anyway. This government, to give them credit where it's due, does a good line in ruthlessly crushing any sense of optimism you might have been foolish enough to hold on to.

New nuclear power stations cannot be built without the UK taxpayer getting stung, Sir Menzies Campbell has said. In a speech on Tuesday, the Lib Dem leader branded nuclear energy the "ultimate stealth tax". He said cleaning up existing waste already costs every citizen £1,500 a year and it was time Britain got serious about energy efficiency.

Pax Christi, the international Catholic peace movement, urged its members to take action now to counter the proposed government plan to replace of the Trident nuclear weapon system at its Annual General meeting in Birmingham on Saturday.

MINISTERS have boosted spending on Britain's top-secret nuclear research base to almost half a billion pounds a year as they examine plans to introduce a new generation of "mini-nukes" to replace Trident. The budget of the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) has been increased by £130m to £493m in a single year, in the biggest outlay of cash on the facility for several decades.

Twenty-seven years after the US suffered its worst nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, Martin Bell - who covered the story at the time for the BBC - looks at recently published archive interviews which reveal what the local community was thinking.

The gates are closed at Aldermaston which seems to be gearing up to develop the next generation of nuclear weapons, despite the recent Blix WMD report that states explicitly we'd all be better off without them.

There could be no clearer condemnation of nuclear weapons than in the recent report from the UN's Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, chaired by Hans Blix. Yet all the signs indicate that Tony Blair is once again flying in the face of expert and public opinion by clearing the way for the development of new and upgraded nuclear weapons.

A London based Trident Ploughshares affinity group is giving special attention to the corporate headquarters of Lockheed Martin UK (LMUK). Based in a quiet residential side street near Victoria Station, the world’s largest maker of weapons of mass destruction hide themselves away in an anonymous building. Neighbours were surprised and upset when they learned that the next generation of nuclear weapons is being developed in their midst.

The Muriel Lesters, a group of Trident Ploughshares pledgers, are determined the world should know that this multinational giant has a £5.3 billion contract with the UK government to design and build new and illegal weapons of mass destruction at Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment. Both the UK government and Lockheed Martin are breaking international law, and neither wants us to know what they are doing.

This morning, as a delegation of Scottish MSPs, church leaders and NGO representatives visited Britain’s nuclear weapons factory at AWE Aldermaston, anti-nuclear nonviolent direct action group Block the Builders took their protest to the UK office of German firm M+W Zander in Chippenham, Wilts.

This morning a high level delegation of Church Leaders and members of the Scottish Parliament were refused a meeting by the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) and turned away by armed police. The delegation had formally requested a meeting with the Managing Director of AWE to ask why more than a billion pounds is being spent on new facilities and technical staff at Aldermaston despite the fact the government claim not to have made a decision on whether or not to replace Trident

THE MAYOR of Hiroshima - the city devastated in August 1945 - visited Aldermaston's Atomic Weapons Establishment to protest against its plans to build a new generation of nuclear weapons. Dr Tadatoshi Akiba, the president of Mayors for Peace,is leading an international delegation, including representatives from Germany and India, around the UK to campaign for nuclear disarmament. He also met Reading mayor Cllr Bet Tickner who said she would be joining his group.

As talks between the 'major powers' continue, building up to a eventual situation where Iran is made an offer they can't refuse (or else) over their nuclear aspirations, readers of SchNEWS will not be surprised to hear how the 'negotiations' with Iran and the West's own stance in relation to nuclear weapons contains not only a whiff of the usual hypocrisy, but that (once again) it's the UK and US who are actually breaking international law.

It seems that the Royal Navy and DML still haven’t learned the lessons of previous Trident Ploughshares infiltrations of HMNB Devonport. In today’s Sun and Evening Herald, we read of an undercover reporter being waved through two checkpoints and allowed to raom HMS Ocean seemingly unchallenged. Not only that, the reporter was seemingly able to leave the base as easily as he entered it. This, yet another in a litany of accidents and bungled security at HMNB Devonport, only serves to further highlight the dangers of having the nuclear fleet in the middle of a city.

Welcome to the big city where all the Pentagon suits lie about uranium oxide! I don’t expect them to stop now. This practice of using uranium oxide is flat out wrong and they all, from President Bush on down, richly deserve a long term in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. When asked this question about gas masks, famed former Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab scientist Leuren Moret stated, “The answer is that there is no protection possible to prevent exposure to DU* from the battlefield - and that means the global pollution also is now spread around the world.”

There were lots of differences with this year’s peace pirate’s camp. We were not in Plymouth nor even Devon but camped in Thanckes Park in Torpoint with a view across the river to submarines in Devonport dockyard. The TP camp was a glorious site despite the severe downpours of rain with two rows of twenty flags on bamboo poles at the edge of the site.
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Friday there was a lot of preparation for the Lord Mayor’s parade and some great props accompanied our bid to enter the parade. CND had been banned from having a float so the TP group decided a bit of street theater and joining right in was required. Quite a few people had been disturbed by the ban and were really happy to see us there to right a wrong.

NEW nuclear power stations for Scotland have been all but ruled out because the costs of transporting electricity south is too high, Scottish Executive ministers have claimed. Changes to national grid connection fees aimed at persuading generators to locate closer to consumers are piling extra costs on to any Scottish-based stations that might envision sending energy to the more crowded south.

Hey, gang! I've got just enough time to drop the following bombshell on you... Murdoch's minions are pro-nuke! The main thing I want to show you is this article from yesterday's Sun by Trevor Kavanagh, but while poking around looking for an online version (instead of a scan), I also found the following:

The Scum - Nuclear power? Yes please: It now seems certain that Britain will give the go-ahead next summer to a new generation of nuclear power stations. The Sun welcomes this.

We will be gathering in open challenge to, and full defiance of, the latest politically-motivated repressive legislation under the Serious and Organised Crime and Policing Act (SOCPA) and the Terrorism Act 2006. This legislation threatens those who infiltrate HMNB Devonport or trespass on any other ‘Designated Area’ with up to 51 weeks imprisonment and/or a fine of up to £5,000 and is aimed squarely at groups such as Trident Ploughshares.

We will be gathering in open challenge to, and full defiance of, the latest politically-motivated repressive legislation under the Serious and Organised Crime and Policing Act (SOCPA) and the Terrorism Act 2006. This legislation threatens those who infiltrate HMNB Devonport or trespass on any other ‘Designated Area’ with up to 51 weeks imprisonment and/or a fine of up to £5,000 and is aimed squarely at groups such as Trident Ploughshares.

Nuclear energy is not the "sole answer" to meeting UK energy needs but failing to consider it would be a "dereliction of duty", Tony Blair has said. At prime minister's questions, Scottish National Party MP Mike Weir accused Mr Blair of threatening to leave a legacy of nuclear "dumps" in Scotland. Mr Blair sparked anger on Tuesday when he said new nuclear plants were back on the agenda "with a vengeance".

CHURCH leaders united yesterday to launch a petition urging the government not to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system. The Kirk, the Catholic Church and Episcopalians signed the petition at Holyrood and support will now be gathered until September when it will be handed in at Westminster, where the final decision on replacing the nuclear deterrent will be taken.

We had been in touch with an MOD Press Officer over a week ago to confirm our arrival and had been told that delivering a letter would not be a problem, although no naval officer would be available to accept it. We accepted this. The Navy now denies this conversation took place and claim they had no warning of our arrival. Today, within 20 minutes of my departure for a final conference with other Trident Ploughshares members in attendance, I was called and told of the following conditions:

This morning nonviolent direct action group Block the Builders took their protest against the controversial Orion laser facility to the doors of the cement factory supplying materials for foundations of new facilities at AWE Aldermaston. The Aldermaston depot of international cement company LaFarge was blockaded for one hour, during which time there was one arrest. One woman also locked on to the depot's concrete supply. Despite a cutting team on-site, the police made no moves to remove her. After almost two hours, she came down voluntarily and was not detained.

At AWE Aldermaston itself, a group of protesters maintained a hi visibility presence from around 8am. A spokesperson for Block the Builders said "We are calling on companies with contracts to build or project manage new facilities at AWE to cease and desist their complicity in Britain's illegal and immoral WMD project."

Scotland's churches have launched a joint petition urging the UK Government not to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system. Leaders of The Church of Scotland, the Catholic Church and the Episcopal Church signed the paper in Edinburgh.

The Kirk's general assembly will be asked to endorse a report which says any replacement for Trident would be "morally repugnant" and the "ultimate in hypocrisy". The gathering this month will have before it the report of the church and society council, which will not only condemn any replacement for the missile system but will be highly critical of many aspects of the war on terror, from the Guantanamo Bay detention centre and rendition flights to the wisdom of identity cards.
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The report continues: "It would be the ultimate in hypocrisy if the UK were to be arguing, for example, that Iran should not be developing a nuclear weapons capability, while at the same time we were extending in scope and in time our own."

On my last attendance, at my convenience, the Reading Magistrates court (on 4/5/2006) decided to write to AWE Aldermaston / Ministry of the Fence (see 1) who are the ‘compensatees’ to see if they really needed the £201 money they asked of us, that was kind of them. They (MOD) had not responded so the court were inconvenienced. So, I chose today to have compassion on AWE Aldermaston’s employees who go about developing and plotting to make these nuke type warheads for further misery, with government funding. If ‘mercy’ does not flow from our nonviolent calm interventions even into the courtrooms with others in mind (yes, even AWE Aldermaston’s employees) then they would be made, of all wo/men most miserable to look upon. Downright obedience and paying the fines would be plain mean, consequently it would ignore the existent vulnerability of future generations to experiencing later, ‘no mercy days’ by the hands of warmongers. So mercy will flow now, and for me this meant I needed to clarify to the court, ‘I wont pay’ even for the staff at AWE Aldermaston’s sake.

The Plymouth branch of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has been banned from taking any part in the forthcoming Lord Mayor’s Day events in Plymouth. Our Secretary, Shirley Law, had previously been told in a telephone conversation that those groups which delivered the relevant paperwork on time (Plymouth CND had done so) would have no difficulty in being accepted as taking part in the Parade and, presumably, other events.

The UN Security Council is discussing a resolution introduced by Western countries calling on Iran to suspend enrichment or face further action.

The British government is refusing to say if any research is being carried out at its only nuclear warhead plant at Aldermaston, southern England, to replace the country's ageing submarine-based nuclear missiles systems. "I have nothing to add to the answer I gave on March 21 2006," Defense Secretary John Reid told MPs in a one-sentence parliamentary reply published Wednesday.

On Saturday 29th March, the 20th aniversary of Chernobyl was commemorated with a procession through the city centre to Cross St Chapel, where talks about nuclear power were held. Demonstrators wore all black and held letters spelling out 'remember Chernobyl'. An autonomous bloc left the main procession and went into shops with banners against nuclear power and climate change. They were quickly ejected from the Arndale Centre, although when the security staff thought the protestors had left, they were spotted reading their leaflets about nuclear power and the upcoming climate camp.

MISTAKES made during a major nuclear accident exercise held in Edinburgh last year would have left real casualties trapped in vehicles and spread deadly radioactive contamination, an official report has revealed. Serious communication failures between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Scottish emergency services led to blunders that in a real nuclear incident could have had fatal consequences. Previous exercises over the past 10 years have thrown up similar problems. But nothing seems to have been learnt from them, campaigners said.

In case you missed it, the era of mutually assured destruction and nuclear parity has ended, at least according to a paper published by Professors Keir Lieber of Notre Dame and Daryl Press of the University of Pennsylvania in the March/April edition of Foreign Affairs. The authors claim that modernization of U.S. nuclear weapons coupled with the degradation of Russian nukes will soon give the United States the ability to eliminate Russian (and Chinese) nuclear capabilities in a preemptive first strike. U.S. and Russian nuclear experts have roundly attacked the authors’ projection of U.S. primacy, which is based more on a simplified calculus of numbers and less on the ugliness and vagaries of war. But, their assertion that MAD is dead has been made before, and it is time we came up with a replacement.

With the Trident nuclear weapon system fast becoming obsolete, and the debate concerning its replacement promised by our government, now is the time for all men and women of Easter faith, men and women of good will, men and women of peace, to raise our voices. Enter this debate and demand that these weapons of mass destruction be replaced, but not with more weapons. Rather, replace Trident, as the Holy Father has said, with projects that bring life to the poor.

We urge you, in the first place, to commit HM Government to fulfil its obligations under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and:

- recall the Vanguard class submarines presently at sea and not send any future patrols,
- immediately cease the refit of HMS Victorious presently at HMNB Devonport,
- end the extensive, and expensive, building programme at Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston which, despite denials, gives the impression, both domestically and internationally that HM Government is preparing a "next generation" of nuclear weapons,
- announce publically that you will not replace the present Trident missile system with any other delivery system.

THE announcement by the president of Iran that they now have the capability of producing a nuclear weapon is serious. However, before the British Government joins in the denunciation of this proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, it should look at its own nuclear house and put this in order.

Morag began her evidence with a long period of silence. When Justice of the Peace Andrew Nicholson asked her to proceed she told him that the sound of silence is all that would follow a nuclear attack. She was not a criminal and in painting the road had acted lovingly to prevent nuclear terrorism. The British state was hypocritical in its denunciation of Iran’s alleged nuclear weapon ambitions and used its own nuclear arsenal to gain selfish advantages.

Israel: "We have nukes and refuse to be inspected by United Nations"
Pakistan: "We have nukes and will keep our nuclear weapons tests"
India: "We have nukes and will keep our nuclear weapons tests"
United States: "Don't worry! They do not represent a threat to world peace, since they're our allies!"

Note: Israel, Pakistan and India are all nuclear-armed and non-signatories to the Non Proliferation Treaty. Iran is a signatory and is comliant with the Treaty. The US and UK are signatories, and are not comlying with the Treaty.

Iran does have nuclear ambitions and has also been perfecting a missile capability to deliver nuclear warheads. All the while it claims to desire nuclear energy solely for domestic power generation. Sitting on a sea of oil, Iran's insistence on development of nuclear power - in the face of the attendant technical and political problems - hardly makes sense unless the goal is military. Technical problems there are. There is always the danger of a Three Mile Island or a Chernobyl. There is the persistent problem of where to put radioactive waste.

But the United States is no role model here. It has nullified the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. It violates the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by massive expenditures on a large range of nuclear weapons activities. It is doing nothing about decreasing its stockpile of nuclear weapons. Is the U.S. less of a threat to world order than Iran?

There is a new Criminal Trespass law which will apply on 13 military sites from 1st April 2006 and all nuclear sites from 13th April 2006. This briefing attempts to explain what it is. If anyone has any experience with this new law, whether of its use or threatened use, please let us know at legalsupport at tridentploughshares.org Updates on this briefing can be found on www.tridentploughshares.org We are not lawyers. This briefing can also be downloaded in PDF format as an A5 booklet or a double-sided A4 sheet.

While calling for a widespread debate on the British government’s current proposal to replace the Trident nuclear submarine system in the near future, Scotland’s eight Roman Catholic bishops have made their own position – and that of the Church – crystal clear. They are firmly opposed.

A marriage made in hell
Police Dismantle Trident
First Block the Builders Blockade at AWE
International Complaint Day
Faslane 365 starts to roll!
People’s Parliament
Consultation recommends no new nuclear subs
New Nuclear Power? No Thanks!
Trident resistors act on Martin Luther King’s birthday
Vanunu Freedom Ride
Peace News 70 years on?
Rolls Royce Raynesway Cases Rumble On
Six months sentence for F16 disarmer
Vital Law Lords hearing

In January of this year, Pope Benedict XVI stated clearly, "In a nuclear war there would be no victors, only victims." He called on those countries in possession of nuclear weapons to "strive for a progressive and concerted nuclear disarmament."

In repeating our previous statement, and endorsing the statements from the Pope, we urge the Government of the United Kingdom not to invest in a replacement for the Trident system and to begin the process of decommissioning these weapons with the intention of diverting the sums spent on nuclear weaponry to programs of aid and development.

A British plutonium trigger for a warhead was test-detonated almost 1000 feet beneath the Nevada desert last month in an experiment codenamed Operation Krakatau. The Ministry of Defence, which refuses to discuss nuclear issues in detail, claimed the non-nuclear explosion was a routine test to determine the operational effectiveness of existing stocks of weapon components. But US officials at Los Alamos, the main American nuclear facility, said Operation Krakatau was part of a series of experiments designed to pave the way for a generation of warheads to replace existing and rapidly ageing stockpiles.

This morning nonviolent direct action group "Block the Builders" took their protest against the controversial the Orion laser facility to the gates of one of current contractors working on a range of building projects at AWE Aldermaston. Tadley-based haulage, site clearance and aggregate company - John Stacey - were unable to take vehicles out of their main vehicle compound for more than 40 minutes after campaigners chained the gatesclosed.

From heavily-guarded piers on Hood Canal, nine of the largest submarines in the Navy are dispatched throughout the Pacific, each boat carrying enough atomic firepower within its missile tubes to unleash thousands of Hiroshimas.
For a small band of people, it is very important for you to know this. So important, they are willing to travel miles, make homemade signs and give up their freedom, at least temporarily, to get you to pay attention. Trouble is, few people do. The actions of those tilting against the region's nuclear weapons have become so practiced and refined that even the cops who arrest them seem half asleep.

The Bush Administration this week revealed a plan for replacing America’s ageing nuclear weapons stockpile, under which 125 new bombs a year would be made by 2022. And although Tony Blair says that no decision has been made on whether to replace Britain’s equally old Trident system, many suspect that Downing Street has already decided to buy into this new US weapons programme to create Britain’s next-generation nuclear deterrent. Over the past five years the British Government has spent £300 million refurbishing the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston, Berkshire. It is hiring an extra 1,000 scientists and engineers. It has bought a supercomputer capable of three trillion calculations per second and high-powered lasers.

Catholic bishops in Scotland appealed to the government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair not to replace the Trident nuclear missile system, to begin the decommissioning of such weapons of mass destruction and to divert funds spent on nuclear weapon to social development. The submarine-based Trident system, which is dependent on Scottish docks, is reaching the end of its useful life, leaving government ministers with a decision whether and/or how to replace it.

U.S. Strategic Command wants to deploy conventional weapons on Trident submarines within two years, the four-star general in charge of U.S. nuclear forces said. The conversion of some nuclear missiles to precision-guided conventional missiles is meant to better deter rogue states like North Korea from launching a ballistic missile, nuclear or otherwise.

Greens fear we maybe witnessing the build up to an attack on Iran. Two B-2 Stealth Bombers and two B-1B multi-role bombers have been spotted at the Fairford RAF base over the last week (i). The base, in rural Gloucestershire, last saw action in 2003 when B-52 bombers flew from there to bomb Iraq. It is the largest USAF bomber base in Europe and the only one with maintenance facilities for the B-2.

The government says we need to update our "independent deterrent". Fresh evidence shows, however, that it isn't independent at all. The independent British nuclear deterrent is a myth - whatever else it may be, it is not independent. That reality, laid bare as never before in US presidential directives published on our website, renders meaningless the government's suggestion that it is time to renew "our" nuclear arsenal.
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For a set of the original documents go to http://www.newstatesman.com/trident

Nine days after the start of the American president's 2003 "shock and awe" uranium bombing campaign in Baghdad, an invisible radioactive uranium oxide gas cloud swept through Britain's towns and countryside and throughout Europe. Respected scientists reported on the unrevealed gas cloud after conducting research on specialized high volume air filters in England. Dr. Chris Busby and Saoirse Morgan stunned Europe in a Sunday Times of London article on Feb. 19, 2006. Their scientific paper, released March 1st, 2006, [1] proved the event. With all the vigor of delusional drunkards, British nuclear and military spokesmen predictably denied the reality of an invisible radioactive cloud. The military claimed that a Chernobyl-like event in the area was probably responsible, but no explosive meltdowns of operating reactor cores have been reported or observed in 2006 anywhere in the world. Evidence of the truth of the gas cloud panicked the military into frantic, irrational, ludicrous denials. The military spin was later refined and the new Chernobyl claim quietly dropped.

MPs yesterday began debating how to replace the UK's Trident nuclear weapons system, which becomes obsolete around 2020 to 2024.

What is happening?
Trident, the UK's submarine-based nuclear weapons system, is expected to be obsolete in around 14 to 18 years time. The prime minister, Tony Blair, has promised that a decision on whether to replace Trident, and how it would be done, will be taken before the next election. Some experts say it would probably take around 14 years to develop a full replacement system, although there are claims that secret research is already underway, and that there may be a way of prolonging Trident by updating warheads.

MPs have begun their inquiry into the UK's nuclear weapons arsenal. The Commons defence committee is examining whether the UK should replace its Trident weapons system, which is expected to be obsolete by 2020. It is taking evidence from a range of experts about the type of threat the UK might face in 20 years' time. Tony Blair has pledged the "fullest debate" before any decision is taken. Critics say there is no threat which justifies replacing Trident.

Despite a massive police presence, including mounted police, around the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston, Block the Builders have again managed to interrupt the morning traffic entering the nuclear weapons factory in Berkshire. Six people have been arrested, including four who had "locked-on" to each other in an attempt to block the entrance to the base. Although the group did not manage to stop workers entering the base today, a spokeswoman said, "We're not disappointed. We're here as a visible opposition to the building of the next generation of nuclear weapons here at AWE, and the size of the police presence indicates the level of resources that have to be deployed in order to stop us."

Despite a massive police presence, including mounted police, around the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston, Block the Builders have again managed to interrupt the morning traffic entering the nuclear weapons factory in Berkshire. Six people have been arrested, including four who had "locked-on" to each other in an attempt to block the entrance to the base.

The UK supplied Israel with quantities of plutonium while Harold Wilson was prime minister, BBC Newsnight can reveal. The sale was made despite a warning from British intelligence that it might "make a material contribution to an Israeli weapons programme". Under Wilson, Britain also sold Israel tons of chemicals used to make boosted atom bombs 20 times more powerful than Hiroshima or even Hydrogen Bombs.

The Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty was effectively ended by Bushs nuclear deal with India yesterday. All the old treaties have been ripped up or abused as if we were on the verge of a new world war. In 1968 the signatories to the NPT agreed to nonproliferation and disarmament alongside the right to peacefully use nuclear technology None of the 5 recognised nuclear powers ( the UN Security Council permanent members ) disarmed or made any serious attempt to do so, although they have used it as a pretext for military action. And they continue to do so, quite openly hypocritical.

Iran signed it and is not in breach.
The US signed it and is in breach both for not disarming and for proliferation.
India never even signed it but would definitely be in breach if it had.

Faslance Peace Camp a beautiful position in the landscape and ANTI-NUKE resistance has been going strength to strength since 1982 but now needs some TLC and life and laughter to RESIST some more. - this is news - your help is needed. Things coming up , read on.......

In the Afghanistan turkey shoot the CoW forces used vast numbers of hard target weapons and other munitions containing depleted uranium (DU). This substance is almost twice as dense as lead. When it punches through concrete bunkers, armour, or mud huts, DU disintegrates into a chemically toxic and radioactive dust. In contrast to the earlier DU weapons used in Gulf War I, the newer ordinance produced deaths and deformities within weeks of the start of military action by the CoW. Between 1990-91 and 2001 the US arms manufacturers are thought to have "improved" the DU technology by introducing milled uranium ore to their warheads. This non-depleted uranium (NDU) is - wait for it - cheaper to produce and far more potent than DU. It poses massive health risks to civilian populations exposed to it, and constitutes, in every sense of the word, a weapon of mass destruction, or WMD.

RADIATION detectors in Britain recorded a fourfold increase in uranium levels in the atmosphere after the “shock and awe” bombing campaign against Iraq, according to a report. Environmental scientists who uncovered the figures through freedom of information laws say it is evidence that depleted uranium from the shells was carried by wind currents to Britain.

Unusually, no fines or other punishments were issued yesterday as six people arrested at the Trident Ploughshares disarmament camp in September last year for actions at the nuclear weapon depot at Coulport appeared for trial at Helensburgh District Court.

The court gig was packed out, and indeed wonderfully organised at the convenience of the both CPS and Ministry of de Fence Police (MOD), it drew much support, and admission was free throughout.
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At the court the prosecution and police focussed on the fence (that appears to be their job) and the planters focussed on the plants and plantings and why a nuclear research plant was not required in a world of increasing violence and terrorising.

This afternoon, some twenty Trident Ploughshares activists, dressed in unusual Gothic attire, made a colourful and vibrant presence outside the Camel’s Head gate of Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth. They arrived to enact the deplorable ‘marriage’ of the people and City of Plymouth to Britain’s own Weapons of Mass Destruction, the Trident missile system. A marriage made seemingly without the consent of many resident in the City.

This afternoon, some twenty Trident Ploughshares activists, dressed in unusual Gothic attire, made a colourful and vibrant presence outside the Camel’s Head gate of Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth. They arrived to enact the deplorable ‘marriage’ of the people and City of Plymouth to Britain’s own Weapons of Mass Destruction, the Trident missile system. A marriage made seemingly without the consent of many resident in the City.

The anticipated “peace dividend” from the end of the Cold War never materialized except in the paradoxical configuration of a profitable war dividend for the military-industrial complex, a large portion of which is derived from nuclear weapons and various support systems.
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The only rational explanation for Washington’s continual modernization of its nuclear arsenal and delivery systems is (1) to remain the planet’s sole superpower against all competitors including China and the European Union, and (2) to extend U.S. military, economic and political hegemony throughout the entire world to the point of creating a 21st century American Empire.

"We just don't know when, but it's going to happen," Scott Ritter said to a crowd of about 150 at the James A. Little Theater on Sunday night. Ritter described how the U.S. government might justify war with Iran in a scenario similar to the buildup to the Iraq invasion. He also argued that Iran wants a nuclear energy program, and not nuclear weapons. But the Bush administration, he said, refuses to believe Iran is telling the truth.

Less than a week after the decision by a local planning committee not to object to plans for a new super-laser facility at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Aldermaston, campaigners are using their bodies to achieve what the planners have failed to do: to stop work on a new generation of nuclear weapons. On 25th January, a West Berkshire Planning Committee decided not to object to plans for the "ORION" laser facility at AWE Aldermaston. This laser is a key part of the infrastructure being developed at AWE: by simulating the effects at the heart of a thermo-nuclear explosion, the laser enables new nuclear weapons to be developed and tested without using full-scale underground bomb tests.

Some of you will know that the gangster regime presently running the USA is now planning, along with the cooperation of NATO (including the UK) and Israel, a pre-emptive (first strike) attack on Iran. This attack will probably be to destroy Iran's nuclear reactors and air defences. Most of these defence systems are buried in hardened shelters, deep underground. They are built specifically to withstand the heaviest assault by conventional weapons so what the US intends to use against them are so-called 'tactical mini-nukes', nuclear missile warheads of an explosive yield of anything between half to four or five times the size of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

These mini-nukes are intended to pierce the earth before exploding. Not only would such weapons leave huge open craters but they would still cause immense devastation to the surrounding area. It is impossible to believe that such devastation will not spread into civilian towns and cities. Moreover, massive radioactive clouds will blow across the planet carrying deadly radiation to many other countries. The annual monsoon weather could carry radioactive clouds south-eastwards and this could mean Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and parts of SE Asia will be affected.

"The plans for a new and upgraded nuclear weapons factory threaten local democracy, international law and world peace" said Caroline Lucas, Green Party MEP for South-East England. The proposals, for a 'laser facility' and associated buildings to test the next generation of nuclear weapons, will be discussed by planners at West Berkshire District Council (WBDC) next week.

Over the last 50 years, Israel has been directly and indirectly aided and funded in its development of weapons of mass destruction by the United States, France, Norway, Britain and Germany. These powerful nations have neither been forthright nor accountable in their roles in giving one small country in the Middle East enough clout to wipe out most of their neighbors via nuclear holocaust. Such a stance is not only controversial and hypocritical to non-proliferation; it is intrinsically detrimental to all other diplomacy and hopes concerning peace in the future of the Middle East.

To use uranium as a fuel for commercial reactors or for nuclear weapons it must be enriched. The enrichment process is then followed by gaseous diffusion in two streams - one is enriched and the other depleted. Before a use was found for it, DU was just stored in vast amounts as a byproduct. However, when it was discovered that solid "dense metal" DU projectiles in all forms (missiles, bombs, shells and bullets) greatly increased their ability to penetrate and destroy a target, the Pentagon had a new technology it hoped to use in combat and now has for the past 15 years.

Today in Helensburgh District Court Morag Balfour, the peace and disarmament spokesperson for the Scottish Socialist party, was fined and given a compensation order for painting peace slogans at the main gate of the Royal Navy Armament Depot at Coulport on Loch Long.

For the last year or so, the United States, Israel and Turkey have been preparing an aerial bombing of Iran. This went into the planning stage back in November of 2004. In other words, it's over a year now and essentially this operation is using the pretext of Iran's nuclear programme to bomb its nuclear facilities. In fact, what is actually being planned is a nuclear war and that nuclear war has nothing to do with Iran. It has to do with nuclear weapons, which are slated to be used by the United States and Israel and I have looked into the various documents behind this.

This is a deadly message to Southeastern Asian Countries about the upcoming IRAN War and the monsoon rains depositing deadly radiation in the environment. The message is from Leuren Moret, a world famous geoscientist and radiation expert and myself, Bob Nichols, newspaper correspondent and writer. I request that you send this to everyone in your address book and that you "Be the Media". Help us stop the Fifth US Nuclear War in 15 years from even starting.

In a move which the more cynical might think was consciously timed to follow and support Blairs nuclear inspired visit to Nottingham yesterday, one of the countries biggest unions today warned that the country faced black-outs and job losses if urgent action isn't taken to address the coming energy crisis. However, rather than demand immediate investiment in renewable energy, they say Britain must build more nuclear power station... just what Blair want too.

He was there to announce nuclear policy, [or perhaps the wrong policy]. Hence a number of concerned citizens turned out to protest.

They marched accross the university campus, from the student union at the Portland Building, to the East Midland Conference Centre. There was of course, a heavy police presence, but inspite of this, folks got to make there feelings known, immediately outside the venue. Not, in the 'designated protest' area 300 yards further down the road that they had already marked out.

He was there to announce nuclear policy, [or perhaps the wrong policy]. Hence a number of concerned citizens turned out to protest. There was an intensive surveillance operation. This is of course normal these days, but it is indicative that the concept of protest is thought of by the authorities as a potential crime. A shame really, me thinks

On his whistle stop visit to Nottingham today, Blair is moving forward in paving the way for new nuclear power station in the UK. He is acutely aware that the UK is in a dire position with it's coal industry dismantled and it's north sea oil and gas reserves in decline having been exported for a quick buck around the world. Now, the choice is to either invest big time in tried and tested renewables such as wind and solar, along with developing tidal and energy conservation technologies... or just bung up another few dozen nuclear power stations and leave the problems to future generations. Meanwhile, Iran is seeking to establish it's own nuclear power plants and Blair is joining Bush in nashing their teeth and threatening some kind of action to stop them obtaining the technology.

Tony Blair set out new plans today for a nuclear power policy, as him and other cabinet ministers attended a Labour Party forum, at the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham. The conference centre is based at Nottingham University, where students jumped into action after it was leaked to Nottinghamshire Indymedia that Tony Blair was to visit the Uni. A call out for a demonstration, meeting at 10am at the Portland Building (on Notts Uni campus) was supported by a number of local campaign groups including the Students Union, Nottingham Stop the War, Nottingham Student Peace Movement, Lenton Anarchist Forum and the arts activism collective the Mischief Makers.

Two peace activists who broke into Faslane naval base last year were today admonished at Helensburgh District Court after being convicted of breaching byelaws and of malicious mischief.

When more than four years ago police detained a woman protesting against transportation of nuclear waste for more than 22 hours, they were breaking the law, Germany’s supreme court has ruled. The Federal Constitutional Court was passing judgment on a complaint by Martina Lammers, chair of The Greens organisation in the north German county of Lüchow-Dannenberg where a nuclear waste storage hall is located at Gorleben.

Intelligence and military sources in the United States and abroad are reporting on various factors that indicate a U.S. military hit on Iranian nuclear and military installations, that may involve tactical nuclear weapons, is in the final stages of preparation.

Starting in 2006, Iran will start up an "oil bourse", or a stock exchange for trading energy, that will be based on the euro, not the US dollar. While this may seem innocuous, it will be a grave risk to continued American global hegemony.
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Iran may, indeed, be attempting to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it also has a "legitimate" interest in developing nuclear power, since its own oil reserves are already post-peak and it aims to continue in its role as an energy exporter. Iran is a signatory in good standing to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has openly informed the International Atomic Energy Agency of its intentions as requried by the Treaty.
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India, a growing economic power that possesses a nuclear arsenal and refuses to sign either the NPT or the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), has just been rewarded for its efforts by US President Bush, who has agreed to "work to achieve full civil nuclear energy cooperation with India." This is a straightforward violation of the NPT, which forbids signatories from exchanging nuclear materials or support with non-signatories.