Greenpeace activists hang a banner reading, "Tony (heart) WMD" off a crane outside Big Ben.
In a parliamentary vote to "replace" the Trident nuclear
weaponssystem, the proposal went ahead with 409 votes to 161
against. But theruling and formerly disarmament minded Labour party
is far fromunanimous, some 95 of Labour members of parliament voted
againstBlair's government. This is the biggest Labour party
rebellion sincethe Iraq war.
Only24 percent of the public support the government's plans to
replaceTrident and 51 percent think that the final decision to
replace theTrident should be made through a public referendum.
Several members ofBlair's own government have resigned in
protest.
Nicky Davies ofGreenpeace International warned: "Blair is the
ultimate globalhypocrite. He demonises other states for trying to
acquire nuclearweapons, yet has no shame in foisting a Cold War
relic, capable ofkilling millions, on to the next generation."
"And far frommaking the world a safer place, Blair's lust for
nukes will encourageothers to follow his dangerous and unnecessary
example. His legacy willbe a more dangerous world".
Blair's program breaks theinternational Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty and undermines theComprehensive Test Ban
Treaty. It also puts Tony Blair at risk ofbreaking the same
international disarmament treaty that he says Iranmust respect.
Recent protests
Weopposed the new Trident program with intensive lobbying and a
series ofdirect action protests. Our climbers spent a cold last
night on a craneoutside Big Ben, while they were eventually
compelled to come down themessage 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 wayonto the
bridge. The crew was arrested for being in a restrictedarea, and
our ship impounded for a week.
At the time, Greenpeace UK campaigner Louise Edge, said from on
board:
"We'reblockading the base because these nuclear arms submarines
pose a threatto the security of the world, not least by encouraging
other countriesto go nuclear in the future".
Tony Blair is playing adangerous game by saying to countries
like North Korea and Iran thatnuclear weapons are necessary for
national defence, that the UK doesn'tcare about its international
legal obligations, and that nuclearproliferation is the way
forward.
Rather than squander anestimated 76 billion UK pounds on new and
more sophisticated ways tobomb the world to pieces, we calculate
that spending the same amount ontackling climate change could
reduce the UK's carbon emissions by over12 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.
Greenpeace UK weblog
Read more on the Greenpeace UK weblog.
Follow the nuclear free Middle East tour.
Read the Rainbow Warrior weblog, Let the Sun Shine, about our nuclear free Middle East tour.