Churches reject government plan to replace Trident

Church leaders, peace campaigners and community groups are responding with anger to the news that the government plan to go ahead with a new generation of reactors for nuclear armed submarines. A £1bn contract is to be announced this week.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the government was "committed to maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent".The work will be carried out at the Rolls-Royce factory at Raynesway, Derby, securing 300 jobs. But he said the final decision on replacing Trident would not be made until 2016.

Britain's nuclear weapons system is made up of four submarines, based at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde, which can deploy Trident ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads.

Two years ago a national poll found 63 per cent of the public wanted to scrap Britain's nuclear deterrent in order to cut the deficit. The Scottish National Party has rejected the nuclear deterrent outright. Angus Robertson, the SNP's defence spokesman, said: "People in Scotland do not want Trident. Church leaders, the Scottish Trades Union Council, the Scottish government and Scotland's parliament are all against weapons of mass destruction being in our waters."

Bruce Kent, Vice President of Pax Christi, described the plans as "scandalous". He said: "They are talking about 'a new generation' of nuclear weapons but this is in fact a full scale replacement of Trident. We are meant to be committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It is undemocratic. The general public does not want these weapons, yet they have decided to go ahead. It is hypocritical. How can we tell countries like Iran not to have nuclear weapons? What message are we giving them by building up our own arsenals?"

Cardinal Keith O'Brien has lead the Catholic Church in opposition to Trident, describing the weapons system as a "weapon of mass destruction" and arguing that possessing it is "morally reprehensible".

He said in an article in The Times on 29 June 2009 that it was his duty as bishop and Cardinal to speak on the issue. As the Trident system was becoming obsolete he advised the government not to replace it. "Britain now has a golden opportunity to truly lead and to turn its back on the path of mass destruction," he said. "Rejecting Trident, not in 2024 but right now, will bring economic dividends at home and give moral leadership abroad. It would allow us, at last, to stand on the moral high ground and to invite the nuclear armed nations of the world to join us there."

To read the full article see: See: ICN June 29, 2009: Scottish Cardinal calls Trident weapons "immoral"
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