Better Alternatives to Replacing Trident
Trident is the name for four of Britain’s six nuclear submarines, one of which is patrolling our seas right now. Just one nuclear submarine is capable of killing 64 million people.
Each nuclear submarine also harms marine creatures through propellors and collisions, with underwater sonar noise affecting food and habitat of whales and dolphins (who often get ear/brain bleeds, hearing loss and suffer mass strandings).
Whereas Labour used to be against replacing Trident, today (along with the Conservatives and Reform UK), Sir Keir Starmer is committed to replacing our ‘nuclear deterrent’. A policy not shared by former Conservative minister Michael Portillo who says replacing it is a waste of time and money.
Greens and SNP both would not replace it, Lib Dems want a minimal nuclear deterrent.
The UK has admitted that many arms sold have been used to commit genocide atrocities abroad, including in Gaza. We even host ‘arms fairs’ (a bit like craft fairs, but it’s a meet-and-greet for people to buy weapons to kill and terrorise people). All promoted and funded by government.
What’s Wrong with Trident?
Nuclear weapons have not prevented wars (even during the Cold War between the USA and Soviet Union, they were involved in other wars elsewhere). Just one accident would kill us all in a second, and the chances of accidents are strong.
It’s not true that President Trump has a ‘red button’ on his desk (apart from one to order his beloved cola). But he could order strikes, to immediately release warheads.
Something like this happened in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In Wisconsin, a ‘Soviet intruder’ set off all the alarms, and almost started World War III. Until someone thankfully stopped it, when it was discovered the ‘intruder’ was a wild black bear.
Only a few countries now use and sell nuclear weapons and arms (South Africa voluntarily got rid of all its arsenal, so why can’t we?) Costa Rica (no.1 in the World Happiness Index) got rid of its military decades ago, spending the money on protecting rainforests and funding education.
It does seem to mostly be due to the ‘we are the old British empire’ mentality. But even our nuclear deterrent system is only leased from the USA. So the recent purchase of more weapons means the government is even more in the pocket of President Trump.
Someone who so immature, he actually told the (unhinged and dangerous) North Korean president that ‘my nuclear button is bigger and more powerful than yours’.
One odd thing about US voters is that many who are very religious (so disagree with abortion) think it’s okay to fund weapons that kill unborn children abroad? Only American foetuses matter?
Spend the Money on Better Things
Replacing Trident will cost $31 billion, but with the add-ons (warheads, maintenance, contingency and de-commissioning), the cost skyrockets to $201 (source: CND). This money they say could be spent instead on:
- Building 120 state-of-the-art NHS hospitals
- Funding 150,000 new nurses
- Building 3 million affordable homes (not on wildlife land)
- Install solar panels in every UK home (which would reduce bills, as well as climate change).
- Pay the tuition fees for 8 million students.
Yet the government often says it has no money to fund what experts say are the real dangerous issues these days: climate change, terrorism, cyber-security and pandemic prevention.
We have a Chancellor who will take away essential pennies from pensioners to heat their homes in winter, and can’t find money to protect native wildlife.
Yet can find over $200 billion for a weapons system that is not needed, won’t be used, is a colossal danger to all species, and one day will be obsolete anyway, when we finally get world peace. Which would also help animals in war zones.
Switch your banking to Triodos, that does not fund weapon sales.
What About ‘Protecting Jobs?’
This is always the old chestnut brought out, to fund things that should not be funded. Big supermarkets and Amazon create ‘jobs’ but at the expense of local communities, which would be richer without them.
The UK arms industry is only responsible for around 2% of jobs, and these could easily be transferred to much-needed engineering jobs for the green energy industry.
The government says arms are not sold to countries that practice human rights abuses. But what else are you going to do with machine guns?
Trident employs around 11,500 people. CND says you could give each worker a cheque for £1 million, and it would still cost little more than 1/20th of the cost of replacing Trident.
Two British Men (who prevented World War III)
If you like songs by singer James Blunt, you may not know that before his song-writing career, he was a British cavalry officer. While serving in Kosovo, a unit he headed was ordered by a US general to attack Russian troops, who had seized an airfield.
General Mike Jackson refused saying ‘I’m not going to have my soldiers be responsible for starting World War III’. Mike’s standing up to the US orders led the tabloids to name him ‘Macho Jacko’. His colleague (James Blunt) agreed, saying he would have risked a court martial and refused the order himself.
