Christoph
16-03-07, 21:36
London, United Kingdom — The world just became a more dangerous place as the British parliament voted to continue its nuclear madness for another 50 years. The UK parliament has allowed Tony Blair's Trident nuclear weapons program to go ahead, committing the UK to squandering 76 billion British pounds on upgrading its nuclear weapons system for another 50 years.
In a parliamentary vote to "replace" the Trident nuclear weapons system, the proposal went ahead with 409 votes to 161 against. But the ruling and formerly disarmament minded Labour party is far from unanimous, some 95 of Labour members of parliament voted against Blair's government. This is the biggest Labour party rebellion since the Iraq war.
Only 24 percent of the public support the government's plans to replace Trident and 51 percent think that the final decision to replace the Trident should be made through a public referendum. Several members of Blair's own government have resigned in protest.
Nicky Davies of Greenpeace International warned: "Blair is the ultimate global hypocrite. He demonises other states for trying to acquire nuclear weapons, yet has no shame in foisting a Cold War relic, capable of killing millions, on to the next generation."
"And far from making the world a safer place, Blair's lust for nukes will encourage others to follow his dangerous and unnecessary example. His legacy will be a more dangerous world".
Blair's program breaks the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and undermines the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. It also puts Tony Blair at risk of breaking the same international disarmament treaty that he says Iran must respect.
Recent protests
We opposed the new Trident program with intensive lobbying and a series of direct action protests. Our climbers spent a cold last night on a crane outside Big Ben, while they were eventually compelled to come down the message on their banner, "Tony loves WMD", definitely got through.
Last month, the Arctic Sunrise blockaded the UK's nuclear submarine base. After a day long stand off police boarded the ship, smashing their way onto the bridge. The crew was arrested for being in a restricted area, and our ship impounded for a week.
At the time, Greenpeace UK campaigner Louise Edge, said from on board:
"We're blockading the base because these nuclear arms submarines pose a threat to the security of the world, not least by encouraging other countries to go nuclear in the future".
Tony Blair is playing a dangerous game by saying to countries like North Korea and Iran that nuclear weapons are necessary for national defence, that the UK doesn't care about its international legal obligations, and that nuclear proliferation is the way forward.
Rather than squander an estimated 76 billion UK pounds on new and more sophisticated ways to bomb the world to pieces, we calculate that spending the same amount on tackling climate change could reduce the UK's carbon emissions by over 12 percent, making the world a much safer place.
In the Middle East
While the Arctic Sunrise is in the UK taking action against nuclear weapons in Europe; the Rainbow Warrior pushing for a Nuclear Free Middle East: a Middle East free of all nuclear technology, both civil and military.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/new-uk-nuke-weapons
In a parliamentary vote to "replace" the Trident nuclear weapons system, the proposal went ahead with 409 votes to 161 against. But the ruling and formerly disarmament minded Labour party is far from unanimous, some 95 of Labour members of parliament voted against Blair's government. This is the biggest Labour party rebellion since the Iraq war.
Only 24 percent of the public support the government's plans to replace Trident and 51 percent think that the final decision to replace the Trident should be made through a public referendum. Several members of Blair's own government have resigned in protest.
Nicky Davies of Greenpeace International warned: "Blair is the ultimate global hypocrite. He demonises other states for trying to acquire nuclear weapons, yet has no shame in foisting a Cold War relic, capable of killing millions, on to the next generation."
"And far from making the world a safer place, Blair's lust for nukes will encourage others to follow his dangerous and unnecessary example. His legacy will be a more dangerous world".
Blair's program breaks the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and undermines the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. It also puts Tony Blair at risk of breaking the same international disarmament treaty that he says Iran must respect.
Recent protests
We opposed the new Trident program with intensive lobbying and a series of direct action protests. Our climbers spent a cold last night on a crane outside Big Ben, while they were eventually compelled to come down the message on their banner, "Tony loves WMD", definitely got through.
Last month, the Arctic Sunrise blockaded the UK's nuclear submarine base. After a day long stand off police boarded the ship, smashing their way onto the bridge. The crew was arrested for being in a restricted area, and our ship impounded for a week.
At the time, Greenpeace UK campaigner Louise Edge, said from on board:
"We're blockading the base because these nuclear arms submarines pose a threat to the security of the world, not least by encouraging other countries to go nuclear in the future".
Tony Blair is playing a dangerous game by saying to countries like North Korea and Iran that nuclear weapons are necessary for national defence, that the UK doesn't care about its international legal obligations, and that nuclear proliferation is the way forward.
Rather than squander an estimated 76 billion UK pounds on new and more sophisticated ways to bomb the world to pieces, we calculate that spending the same amount on tackling climate change could reduce the UK's carbon emissions by over 12 percent, making the world a much safer place.
In the Middle East
While the Arctic Sunrise is in the UK taking action against nuclear weapons in Europe; the Rainbow Warrior pushing for a Nuclear Free Middle East: a Middle East free of all nuclear technology, both civil and military.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/new-uk-nuke-weapons