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Trident Replacement:
Assessing UK Security Needs and Nuclear Policy

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Trident Replacement Articles and Publications, 2006

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For previous articles and publications, see: Trident Replacement Articles and Publications, 2004-2005

• The troublemaker, Shirin Ebadi has lived through three different eras in Iran: the western-backed monarchy of the shah, the Islamic republic of Ayatollah Khomeini, and the confrontational regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And as a champion of women's rights, she has been a thorn in the side of all three. She tells Stuart Jeffries how she overcame death threats to become the clerics' 'worst nightmare', The Guardian, June 2, 2006

• Weapons of Terror - Freeing the World of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Arms by the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Commission, June 1, 2006
  

• Life on the subs that never sleep - the captain's story, Ministry of Defence, June 1, 2006
  
  
• Pentagon seeks nonnuclear tip for sub missiles, by Michael R. Gordon The New York Times, May 29, 2006
  The Pentagon is pressing Congress to approve the development of a new weapon that would enable the United States to carry out nonnuclear missile strikes against distant targets within an hour. The proposal has set off a complex debate about whether this program for strengthening the military's conventional capacity could increase the risks of accidental nuclear confrontation. The Pentagon plan calls for deploying a nonnuclear version of the submarine-launched Trident II missile that could be used to attack terrorist camps, enemy missile sites, suspected caches of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons and other potentially urgent threats, military officials say.
  
  
• Shhh! Can you make out the sound of a bomb ticking under Labour? Mary Ann Sieghart, The Times, May 26, 2006
  
  

• Cross-border issues grip Holyrood, BBC 5 May 2006
  The Greens in Scotland challenged MPs at Westminster to have a full and proper debate on any replacement for the Trident nuclear weapons system. "It's been suggested that the UK Government will simply agree the replacement, without recourse to parliament," said the Green MSP Chris Ballance, "despite the strategic implications, despite the £15bn price tag and despite public opinion."

• End of a Nuclear Weapons Era: Can Britain Make History? by Rebecca Johnson Arms Control Today - April 2006
  The government’s attempt to slip the decision through quietly failed, and a contentious debate about the future of British nuclear weapons and nonproliferation policy has now been kindled. Politicians and retired military officers are taking sides, the grassroots peace movement is mobilizing, and members of parliament are demanding to participate in the decision-making.

• Cardinal calls for scrapping of Trident in his Easter homily, Independent Catholic News - 24 April 2006
  

• We'll save you cash on submarines, North West Evening Mail -17 April 2006
  BARROW'S submarine designers have offered to build a cheaper alternative for the government's Trident submarines - by using Astute class boats. BAE submarine experts have come up with two possible designs to slash the estimated £15bn to £30bn cost of replacing the Trident system including four massive submarines.
  One option would see an extra hull section added to the 7,200 tonne Astute class to house the launch tubes for a smaller number of Trident missiles. It would have just four tubes to launch the D5 Trident instead of the 16 on each of the Vanguard class nuclear missile subs now in service. The second option would be a version with 16 external launchers which could fire Tomahawk cruise missiles.

• Sir Menzies on matters relating to Barrow shipyard, North West Evening Mail - 13 April 2006
  "We have to make a decision on the question of whether or not there should be a successor to Trident, not necessarily a replacement to Trident. There are a number of issues to be taken into consideration. The first is what the strategic environment will be in 2025 when Trident is expected to come to the end of its natural life. What the threat assessment will be in 2025 and cost. There is also the question of our treaty obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. We have said there should be a debate and vote in Parliament on the issue."

• Wicked lessons on WMD we are teaching the world, by Joan McAlpine The Herald - 13 April 2006
  

• Scottish Bishops issue statement on Trident, Independent Catholic News - 11 April 2006
  Following the meeting last week of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland, the following statement on the Trident Nuclear Weapons System was agreed by Scotland's eight Catholic Bishops.

• Britain and US working on nuclear warheads to replace Trident, by Ian Bruce
  The Herald - 10 April 2006
  Britain is co-operating with the US on a generation of nuclear warheads that will form the basis of the planned replacement of the UK's Trident missile force.
  

• In the wilderness, a computer readies a new nuclear arsenal, by Tim Reid
  The Times - 7 April 2006
  On a rare tour of the US nuclear laboratory in Los Alamos, our correspondent is shown a project to replace warheads that many believe Britain is not only watching but is deeply involved in.

• Britain's deterrent - the inquiry, Jane's - 6 April 2006
  Key questions at the inquiry centred on the UK's world role; options for extension or replacement of the sea-based Trident system; the timetable for decision-making; the UK's relationship with the US and with other nuclear powers; the rise of new nuclear-capable states, and an analysis of threats requiring deterrence over the next two decades.

• MoD tests water on Trident replacement by James Boxell, Financial Times - 4 April 4 2006
  Ministry of Defence officials have started talking to defence industry executives behind the scenes to assess options for equipping Britain with a nuclear strike capability to last until the middle of the century.

• Trident: we've been conned again, by Dan Plesch, New Statesman - 27 March 2006
  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.

• Time to Expose Nuclear Secrecy. Letters to the Editor: Time to Expose Nuclear Secrecy. The Sunday Times, 19 March 2006.

• Radio Four Today interview: Jack Straw interviewed by John Humphreys, Monday 13 March 2006.

  JH:....Is it true as I read yesterday in the papers that we are developing a new nuclear weapon...to take over from Trident, without any discussion?
  JS: No, well..er..look let me say this that we in the UK are meeting our obligations...
  JH: Are we developing a nuclear weapon?
  JS:...Well hang on a second, as a nuclear weapon state we are entitled to have a nuclear weapon system and at the same time what we have done is reduced a number of weapons systems that we have from 3 to 1. Now there is an issue about the future of Trident but John Reid has made it perfectly clear that there will indeed be a discussion about it.
  JH: Right so we are not developing a new nuclear weapon as a successor to Trident lets be clear about that.
  JS: Well as I say there is discussion about whether we do.
  JH: But the answer to my question is no, lets just be clear about that?
  JS: Well as I say there is discussion about whether we do.
  JH: Right, ok so the answer to my question is no, we are not as we speak developing a successor to Trident?
  JS: Well as I say the..the ..the answer is that we intend to keep with our nuclear weapons system.
  JH: I am sorry I don’t know what you are answering me here Foreign Secretary. The question is are we as we speak, this morning at nineteen minutes past eight on a Monday morning, developing a new successor to Trident? Yes or No?
  JS: We are giving consideration to the development of a new system.
  JH: All right...we’ll go beyond that.

• Building bigger nuclear weapons will make us even less secure, George Monbiot, The Guardian, January 24, 2006.

• Faslane to have £125m facelift, William Tinning and Steven McMinn, The Herald, January 5, 2006.

• Message to Labour: no need to panic over Cameron, Polly Toynbee, The Guardian, December 13, 2005.

• Nuclear weapons stifle diplomacy, Guardian Letters, December 30, 2006.

• Putin's show of strength triggers fear of fresh nuclear arms race, Fraser Nelson, The Scotsman, December 26, 2005.

• Britain will remain US poodle if Trident replaced, Short warns, Independent, December 7, 2006

• NS Interview - Jack Straw, Mary Riddel, New Statesman, November 14, 2005.

• Our armed forces must have a voice in how to defend us, Max Hastings, The Guardian, November 8, 2005

• Nuclear war may no longer be inevitable, but that hasn’t stopped every country wanting to own the ultimate weapon. And why not? Ian Bell, Sunday Herald, November 6, 2005

• Britain still needs nuclear weapons, says Reid, Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian, November 2, 2005

• Giving up our nuclear weapons is too risky, says Reid, Michael Evans, The Times, November 2, 2005

• The Blairite love affair with the bomb will cost Britain dear, David Clark, The Guardian, November 1, 2005

• Reid hints at Trident replacement, Matthew Tempest, The Guardian, November 1, 2005

• MPs press Reid for vote on Trident replacement, Patrick Wintour, The Guardian, November 1, 2005

• Labour MPs debate Trident scheme, BBC News Online, October 31, 2005

• Labour MPs question cost of replacing Trident, Richard Norton-Taylor The Guardian, October 31, 2005

• UK nuclear defence up in the air, James Kirkup, Scotsman, October 29, 2005

• Blue water, Times Leader, October 29, 2005

• Writers issue scrap Trident call, BBC News Online, October 28, 2005

• Say no to Trident, Guardian Letters, October 28, 2005

• Public would reject new Trident if they knew huge costs, poll shows, Terry Kirby, The Independent, October 25, 2005

• MOD refuses information on Trident replacement, Greenpeace UK, October 21, 2005

• Labour fury as Blair fails to guarantee Trident vote, Toby Helm, Daily Telegraph, October 20, 2005

• Trident fleet faces stretched lifespan to help curb defence costs, Ian Bruce, October 19, 2005

• Revealed: Blair's Nuclear Bombshell, Andy McSmith, The Independent, October 18, 2005

• Trident's future 'linked to Iran', BBC News Online, October 11, 2005

• As the US lowers the nuclear threshold, debate is stifled, Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian, October 5, 2005

For previous articles see: Trident Replacement Articles and Publications, 2004-2005

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