Trident Consultation And Public Opposition

EDM number 1185 in 2006-07, proposed by Dai Davies on 21/03/2007.

That this House notes that according to figures posted on the Ministry of Defence website, as of 1st March this year, 99 per cent. of those responding to the consultation on the White Paper on The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent, as published on 4th December 2006, expressed concerns over renewing the nuclear weapons system; further notes that of the responses received, 53 per cent. of correspondents raised concerns about the legality of nuclear weapons and/or the UK's obligations under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT); notes that in introducing the debate on Trident replacement on 14th March, the Government dismissed these concerns, telling this House that there was no basis to suggest that the United Kingdom had done anything other than fully comply with the UK's obligations under the NPT (14th March, Official Report, column 303); believes that this dismissal of concerns about possible incompatibility of any Trident replacement with the UK's NPT obligations suggests that there was no genuine purpose in holding a public consultation if the massive majorities opposing Government strategy are to be summarily dismissed; regards the so-called public consultation over replacing the UK's nuclear weapons platform, missiles and warheads as a sham; believes that this episode has done untold damage to public confidence in the process of public consultation on proposed Government policies; and calls upon Ministers to reflect upon the damage done to the United Kingdom democratic process by the Trident renewal proposals.

This motion has been signed by a total of 32 MPs.