REALISTIC DEFENCE STRATEGY FOR BRITAIN

    
THE NEXT STEP IS? If the people of this town were really honest they'd admit the 
only interest they have in the building of new Trident subs is for the work (employment) that this project provides: 'deterrence' is used as a vague excuse to make the subs appear necessary.

The picture above shows (l to r) Marcus and Kerry-Ann of Footprints for Peace and Barbara and Syd Eager (formerly of Barrow Peace Coalition Steering Committee) at Walney channel in 2007.  The Devonshire Dock Hall, in which the Vanguard class submersible launch platforms for the American Trident Weapons of Mass Destruction were built, can be seen in the background.  The new Astute class submarines are currently being constructed here.

Many conversations have been held with local residents regarding the  proposed 'Successor' fleet of Trident subs.  When asked to explain what they mean when they say "We need a deterrent!" the reasons vary from "It stops another country from attacking us." to "It's important for the war against terror."  However, they can't explain how a weapon that, if used, would instantly vapourise three million people prevents another country or group of terrorists from attacking us.  One nutcase suggested it would be used as a last resort to stop us from being forced to become Muslims! 

Terrorist acts perpetrated by the IRA in mainland Britain during the 1970s never gave rise to the type of hysteria we meet in Britain today and were never used as an excuse for building nuclear weapons.  The Cold War and hawkish bloody-minded leaders in Britain and America (Thatcher and Reagan)    pushed the development and deployment of ever more sophisticated nuclear weapons to highly dangerous levels. But it was recognised then, just as it ought to be recognised today, that terrorism can only be brought to an end through political discourse. 

Terrorists have no country that can be 'punished' for their acts of aggression because they come from many different nationalities - and this is why simpletons have latched onto the only thing these people appear to have in common: they all seem to be of the Muslim faith....so it follows that all Muslims must be terrorists! Hence the police must stop and search all Muslims.  And anyone carrying a bag and who 'looks like a Muslim' must be watched very carefully indeed. My word, how the soft porn gutter press tabloids love this stuff!

The Cold War ended long ago. We are not under any threat by another nuclear super-power (except, maybe, the USA).  The longer we hang onto our nuclear weapons, the more other countries will want to have their own nuclear 'deterrent' - if this is so important for us, then it must be very important for them, too.  Hence we now have India and Pakistan as members of the 'Nuclear Club' with North Korea at the door.  

So there you have it.  Trident subs do not deter terrorists - they won't prevent a plane being crashed into a nuclear power station, or anthrax being released at airports or railway stations, or viruses/bacteria being released into freshwater reservoirs, or bombs wrapped in biological or nuclear material being detonated in crowded city centres.  Nor do they serve to protect the shipping lanes that we depend upon for our very survival (95% of gross tonnage is shipped by sea).  But the people of Barrow in Furness don't want to consider any of these things because, as they insist, "We need a deterrent!"

Finally, some time ago a Trade Union official in Carlisle suggested the people of Barrow would build gas (extermination) ovens if it kept people in work.  The comment was met with expressions of outrage by locals.  But here's a question someone might like to answer - what's the difference between building weapons that can exterminate several million people in a matter of minutes and building gas ovens that might take a year or more to do exactly the same thing?

The next posting will address the potential economic benefits of introducing alternative industries into this region and releasing the town from its great dependency on BAE.

                            

YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!

IF NEW TRIDENT SUBS ARE CANCELLED, THEN WHERE'S 'PLAN B' FOR BARROW?

OK, it's most unlikely given that the three main political parties are in favour of a replacement fleet. However, to say that it is unlikely, rather than impossible, suggests there might just be a chance for this to happen!

It is highly unlikely that my house will ever burn to the ground - but I have got it insured against such a possibility. Most sensible homebuyers/owners do this. Now apply this to Barrow job security.

All the big nobs of this town are content to place its future economic well-being on the building of a successor fleet of Trident-bearing nuclear submarines. Indeed, at the annual meeting of Furness Enterprise held at Abbey House in December, Harry Knowles, Chief Executive Officer, 'thanked God' that BAE employed 5,000 locals. And there was much 'positive' and 'encouraging' talk about the new marina, high-tech lighting systems, new factory units and office buildings.

There was no mention of the more than 300 jobs that had been lost at Glaxo last year, the loss of the 'wonderful' carrier centre sections order that was to have created thousands of jobs, the liquidation of Strand Engineering and the recent threat of yet more job losses at Glaxo and a possible drastic reduction in the scope of an already curtailed Waterfront Development. Neither was there mention of all the small businesses that are going to the wall in the town - witness all the boarded-up shop premises on Dalton Road.

But, yes - given that there is nothing else to support the local economy - Barrow needs the new Trident order because nobody is thinking about anything else!

Consider, for just a moment, the following....The people of the United States of America have just elected a president who has a brain. President Barack Obama has stated he desires to see a reduction in nuclear weapons. Despite receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, he has agreed to send a further 30,000 US troops into Afghanistan and this makes the award look a little bit dubious. However, a new round of talks on the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) is due any time now and Obama will be looking for some 'bargaining chips' in those negotiations.

I don't know if he has already thought about this but I'll write to him and suggest it anyway....As a gesture of his sincerity towards nuclear arms reduction, he could instruct any British government to forget about a successor Trident fleet. Let's face it, it wouldn't be any skin off his nose, would it? No American workers would be thrown out of a job. It'd make a great impression on those who'd awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize, and the other SALT countries would be encouraged to follow America's lead! And BAE Systems would simply increase its interests in the Electric Boat Company in Houston, Texas.

Just one problem - there's been no 'Plan B' for Barrow and the local population would be reduced to the same misery it endured TWENTY YEARS AGO!

And that Public Meeting (to which the Labour candidate, the local Labour gang, the local Trade Union Council club, the local business 'selfish societies and associations' and the hypocritical 'religious' community avoided like the plague) was meant to consider 'Plan B' as the town's insurance policy. But because so few are bothered there is NO insurance policy. It's Trident or bust (in a country that's flat broke, skint, brassic!)