Memorandum from the Religious Society
of Friends (Quakers)
The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) is
committed to the peaceful political resolution of intractable
disputes within the international rule of law. We are opposed
to the development, maintenance, or use of nuclear weapons as
an instrument of international policy. While we welcome the existence
of this inquiry we are disappointed that neither MOD Ministers
nor their senior civil servants have given evidence on an issue
where Government perceptions of strategic imperatives are so crucial
to a decision. This is especially so where it is not apparent
how weapons designed to meet the perceived threats of the cold
war now meet the requirements of a very different security world.
In looking at the strategic context of a decision on the future
of Trident, we hope that the report will include an assessment
of the potential impact that a decision to replace would have
on the non-proliferation regime. An adequate inquiry requires
analysis of the following related dimensions as a preliminary
to democratic debate:
1. The legal environment of any decision. This
needs to include treaty commitments, in particular that of the
Non Proliferation Treaty and its subsequent reviews, and International
Humanitarian Law, including criteria of proportionality and the
question as to whether any weapon could be used compatibly with
its jus in bello requirements. The increasing scope of
human rights jurisprudence and its overlap with humanitarian law
requires an investigation as to whether the use of nuclear weapons
could ever be compatible with the Human Rights Act and with Article
1 of the European Convention of Human Rights with its positive
commitments regarding the right to life in Article 2. There is
an urgent need for consideration of what safeguards there are
to ensure that the Government is seen to take truly independent
legal advice. The Secretary of State should be required to clarify
to what extent the experience of defects in Parliamentary accountability
in relation to the Chevaline programme will be addressed in developing
any proposed new generation of nuclear weapons.
2. The ethical dimension. While clearly this
cannot be separated from other aspects of consideration, in a
multi cultural society there is a need to consider not only the
ecumenical perspective of the Christian Churches but to include
evidence from representatives of Indic, Islamic and other faiths.
3. The environmental impact. In the light of
the lessons learnt from the Chernobyl disaster this would need
to include not just the unthinkable environmental consequences
of an accidental or deliberate use of weaponry but of potential
accidents at ordnance factories. The environmental cost of testing;
the impact of the development of materials to be used in warheads
and their eventual decommissioning also need to be considered.
4. Economic cost. This requires an assessment
of the overall impact on the national economy of maintaining and
developing nuclear weapons. It would require a comprehensive assessment
of all the spending parameters including forward looking research
and all those set out in Lord Carver's detailed Parliamentary
Question of 9 December 1997[84]
and an analysis of potential cross subsidy from nuclear energy
programmes in relation both to development of materials and the
decommissioning of weaponry. The Government should be asked to
provide an account of how expenditure involving decisions on a
replacement for Trident will be identified in requests for expenditure
made by the MOD, and what level of detail of information will
be given in the departmental report on the purposes and outcomes
of such expenditure.
We hope that the Inquiry will be able to address
these and other issues as a background to a full and open debate
in both houses of Parliament.
84 Asked for estimated total cost of "maintaining
the capability to design, produce, maintain the safety of, store,
move and dispose of nuclear weapons and of providing, operating,
maintaining and disposing of the Royal Navy`s ballistic missile
submarine fleet including its missiles."26 April 2006 Back
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