Let's not miss the point on Trident

Today's Telegraph reports that a new Government contract for nuclear reactors in submarines brings the renewal of Trident a lot closer and creates a rift with the Liberal Democrats.Well, I'm glad that they recognise our point of view on this, that we fought the last election on a policy of there being no like for like replacement of Trident. Can I suggest that before we get ourselves in a twist about this, we read what Liberal Democrat defence minister Nick Harvey wrote on Liberal Democrat Voice last month. The main decision will not be made until after the next General Election. We have seen to that.

I for one was never entirely comfortable with the notion of no "like for like" replacement of Trident. I have no desire to go shopping in the bargain basement for nuclear weapons. I actually don't think we have any business investing squillions in weapons of mass destruction at all. I want to see our entire nuclear weapons programme ended. No ifs, buts or maybes. Keeping a stock of these weapons is absolutely unjustifiable in my opinion. Why would you want to have missiles whose prime purpose is to cause widespread devastation, death and destruction amongst innocent civilians, people like you and me.

What those of us who feel the same way, whatever party they're in, should be doing is spending the next 3 years building a campaign against a nuclear deterrent in principle. That's going to be a huge issue in the next election. I am far from convinced that we'll be out of the economic mire by then and we will have better things to spend our money on than stellar guided wickedness. The Labour Party needs to think long and hard about whether it can justify it. They may well be haunted by their 1983 manifesto which advocated unilateral nuclear disarmament but we are in a different world now. If the biggest threat we face is from international terrorism, as the US and UK Governments would have us believe, then there is no point investing in more nukes, because they will do nothing to deal with that threat.

My Nationalist friends will no doubt rush to tell me that an independent Scotland wouldn't have any nuclear weapons. How selfish can you get?  As part of the UK, we Scots, who tend to be less convinced by the argument for these things, have a chance to bring about a change of policy which will rid the whole island of them. Narcissistic nationalist nimbyism isn't going  to help make the world non nuclear place. A UK without Scotland would, I think, be less likely to abandon nuclear weapons, leaving all on these islands worse off.

We know that the Tories like to scare people into accepting the unacceptable - just look at Theresa May's comments on the Draft Communications Data Bill (which is only a draft bill due to Nick Clegg putting his foot down). She's clearly trying to convince us that unless she's given unbridled power to snoop on all our Facebook messages, terrorists will run amok. Of course, the people who are really up to no good will be able to circumvent such measures. In the same way, they will build a frightening case for maintenance of the deterrent. The  opponents of nuclear weapons need to build a more compelling, evidence based case for getting rid of them. We don't have long - just around half a year further away than the Independence Referendum. Let's get to it.

Trident decision delay a big win for the Liberal Democrats

Yesterday's defence review was always going to be difficult. Nowhere had Labour left a bigger mess than at the MOD with horrific overspends.

There was some good in it, though - the fact that thousands of jobs in Rosyth and Govan are safe is a huge relief for those areas.

And the there's the fact that there will be no decision on replacing Trident in this Parliament. That is better than I was hoping for and better than I thought we were going to get from the Coalition Agreement. I'd like to see us get rid of all nuclear weapons. I think it's wrong that we have them at all. However a reduction in warheads and winning the argument that it's unnecessary to rush into ordering the next generation of nuclear weapons is a big win for the Liberal Democrats within the Coalition.

Party President Ros Scott e-mailed Party members last night with the good news:


Dear Caron,
The Liberal Democrats have long argued that Trident is an out of date, unnecessary and hugely expensive weapons system that the UK has no need of in modern times. In this period of fiscal constraint it is also a luxury we can ill afford. Nick Clegg was right to argue powerfully against Trident renewal during the Leader's Debates. Our party was right to stand in contrast to both the Conservatives and Labour on this issue.

Today, within the Strategic Defence Review, the Coalition Government announced that there will be no final decision on the like-for-like replacement of Trident during this parliament. So Trident will not be renewed this parliament - not on a Liberal Democrat watch. Let us be clear, this is a significant victory for Liberal Democrat campaigners, and a fantastic example of what our Ministers can and do achieve in government.

But the Coalition Government is not just saying no to replacing Trident this parliament. It is going further. It is also taking important steps towards the goal of multilateral nuclear disarmament. The announcement today sees a 25% cut in warheads.

Today is yet another day that we can all feel hugely proud to be a party of government, delivering key Liberal Democrat priorities.

Best wishes,
Ros Scott
Party President


I'm glad that our ministers have successfully argued this case within Government.

Shirley Williams supports Liberal Democrat Trident call

Shirley Williams is my political hero. I had real goosebumps when during the Conference debate on the emergency motion on Trident when the chair asked our 79 year old peer to stand by.

When she took to the platform, she started by reminiscing on her own 1981 by-election win for the SDP in Crosby, paying tribute to all those who helped in her campaign.

She then went on to basically annihilate the position of the Tories on insisting that Trident is not subject to the scrutiny of the Strategic Defence Review. She made the point that Trident is essentially a cold war weapon, and last time she looked, she reckoned that the Cold War was over.

Shirley has more knowledge and understanding of US politics than most other people and went on to take apart the idea that not replacing Trident would damage the special relationship with the US. She asked if Liam Fox had noticed that George W Bush had gone, and that a new President, committed to disarmament had taken office. She said it would be ludicrous of us to move in the opposite direction to President Obama, taking on a new system committing us to nuclear weapon power for 40 years, when he's doing what he can to get rid of as many as possible. She argued that a better way forward would be to support him in his endeavours.

Conference supported the motion, pretty overwhelmingly, to ask our Ministers to continue to press for Trident to be included in the Strategic Defence Review.

I would like to see us adopt a policy of getting rid of nuclear weapons altogether but that wasn't on offer today.  Some might say that this motion was a large portion of fudge, rather than the unequivocal rejection of nuclear weapons that others wanted to discuss. There's plenty of time to have that sort of debate, though. We slated Labour in Government  for rushing to replace Trident.

I liked the fact that Julian Huppert, the new MP for Cambridge proposed the motion and mentioned his own opposition to nuclear weapons in principle in the process. There must somewhere be an issue I disagree with him on but I've yet to find it.

Lib Dem Member? Have your say on Trident

My attention was drawn to an advert in Lib Dem News which I want to publicise in the blogosphere.

Former leader Ming Campbell has been asked by Nick Clegg to review alternatives to the Government's plans to replace Trident.

As the ad says:

"The review will consider Britain's options for its nuclear posture beyond Trident and seek to balance national security needs with the part's long-standing commitment toa world free of nuclear weapons.

Together with Liberal Democrat shadow Defence Secretary Nick Harvey, MP, Menzies Campbell will consider evidence and input from specialists, academics and party members.

Please send any written submissions by September 30th 2009 to Menzies Campbell MP c/0Emma Collinson, Room 301, Portcullis House, Bridge Street, London, SW1A 2LW or by e-mail collinsone@parliament.uk.

If you have strong views on this, don't miss the chance to have your say.

MOD's weird sense of what's important

I know that service personnel and their families often get a raw deal - there have been scandals about our troops being ill equipped on duty, badly cared for if they are injured and poorly housed at home.

Now I discovered in today's Sunday Herald that the MOD includes travelling time from places like Iraq and Afghanistan in the calculation of soldiers' leave. So, exhausted troops, who may have faced all sorts of ordeals and traumas in the field, have their time at home, when they can relax with their families, and recharge their batteries, cut short.

No wonder soldiers and their families feel undervalued!

What worries me is that there are bound to be cuts in defence spending in the current financial climate. Will this Government sacrifice basic amenities at home and abroad for troops in order to waste £20 billion renewing Trident? Nick Clegg tried to pin the Prime Minister down on this at PMQs last week.

The Government will sign the first contracts for the replacement of Trident over the Summer. The economic climate was very different when Parliament made the decision to replace the system. That should surely be revisited.

It strikes me as bizarre that the MOD is splashing out on a new nuclear weapons system which, as well as being completely immoral, is strategically unnecessary, when the troops that we have on the ground are denied time with their families and not provided with the basics they need to do their jobs. Those are not the priorities I'd choose. In my experience you get the best out of people when you treat them properly. It's a lesson the MOD would do well to learn.

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Breaking News - Lib Dems will not replace Trident

I do love Lib Dem Voice - they can have a big sloppy kiss instead of a hat tip (actually, they might prefer beer, so shall we settle on a pint?) for announcing that Nick Clegg has said that the Liberal Democrats will not replace Trident.

I am ecstatic because I have been a long time opponent of us having a nuclear deterrent at all for all sorts of reasons - morally, I don't think it's right that we should have such weapons of mass destruction, I don't think that an expensive new missile system is the answer to the security issues we face today and, frankly, I can think of much better things to spend our money on.

I know that logically I should be a bit cross because the party leadership has announced a fairly major change in policy and I don't know how much consultation has gone on and we have to remember that we are a democratic party with a sovereign policy making conference that puts the shams the others have to shame - but I'm not, really, that angry. Party leaders always at some point pull the rug from under us with a shock announcement - I'm just not used to one doing it on issues I agree with.

I also think that the Conference, to be honest, would back Nick up on this - he's been pretty good as leader at sussing out the mood of the party and not treating it as if it's some minor irritation he can brush off.

But enough of the internal stuff. The Lib Dems have once again shown that they are prepared to stand up and make the tough decisions that the country needs. The entire leadership team have made so many good calls - on issues from Gaza, to MP's expenses, to the £700 tax cut for the most needy households, to Vince's Economic Recovery Plan. Nick and the whole Parliamentary team have shown that they have pragmatic and relevant solutions to the challenges facing the country on all sorts of issues.

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