Liberal Viewpoint

Time to ditch Trident

The UK is committed to constructing a new fleet of submarines to carry the US-made Trident (II) missiles. Estimates of the cost of this programme currently range between £15-£20billion. History tells us that the actual cost will be higher.

Trident is a moral and geo-political issue as well as an economic one.

First, the moral issue. As a Liberal, I believe that each individual life is of equal and infinite value. Nuclear weapons systems entail the willingness to destroy non-combatants en-masse. The pursuit of a programme which accepts this possibility makes citizens of our nation complicit in what is an anti-human and immoral choice. Given that the system is designed to be used, if expedient, as a first strike option, what moral differnece is there between a state building such a asystem and a terrorist organisation? Both are willing to disregard the rights of innocent victims.

Secondly, Trident is a geo-political issue. The missiles are American products. They make a nonsense of the claim that Britain has an ‘independent nuclear deterrent’. Trident makes us a client state, of the USA. To end the Trident programme would be a demonstration of national courage and independence. It would change Britain’s standing in the world for the better, creating new possibilities for us to pro-actively engage in the reform and rebuilding of intenational institutions of global governance and security.

Thirdly, Trident is an economic issue. Its inappropriateness as a ‘deterrent’ to terrorism and its uselessness in relation to all current and recent conflicts make it an expensive and unnecessary toy. Britain spends more per capita on defence than any of other EU country. We can ill-afford it.

Global security is better promoted by spending more on promoting internationally co-ordinated programmes designed to avoid the causes of conflict - grievances about ethnic domination and inequitable access to resources. Trident is a symbol of the politics of intimidation, fear and terror. The continuation of such politics in the 21st century makes our world less rather than more secure. The future of humanity and of our society depends on overcoming fear with a demonstration of moral courage and maturity. The abandonment of Trident would reveal a willingness in the UK to seek a future in partnerships with other nations and international groupings are independent of the current, outdated big-power attitudes. It is time to ditch Trident!

Andrew Montgomerie is a member of the Liberal Party’s National Executive Committee

This article is written in a personal capacity and is not an official statement of Liberal Party policy.