No nukes
Congratulations to the Scottish Parliament for voting to oppose the US controlled Trident system*.Will the vote have any impact on the Westminster decision? That depends who the Labour abstainers were.
A reading of the motion, and the selected amendments is very interesting:
Patrick Harvie is Green, Michael McMahon is Lab, Murdo Fraser is Tory and Mike Rumbles is a LibDem.S3M-169 Patrick Harvie: Trident—That the Parliament congratulates the majority of Scottish MPs for voting on 14 March 2007 to reject the replacement of Trident and calls on the UK Government not to go ahead at this time with the proposal in the White Paper, The Future of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent.
The Presiding Officer has selected the following amendments
S3M-169.3 Michael McMahon: Trident—As an amendment to motion (S3M-169) in the name of Patrick Harvie, leave out from "congratulates" to end and insert "affirms that defence policy is, and should remain, the responsibility of the UK Parliament".
S3M-169.1 Murdo Fraser: Trident—As an amendment to motion (S3M-169) in the name of Patrick Harvie, leave out from "congratulates" to end and insert "notes that defence matters are wholly reserved to Scotland’s other Parliament at Westminster and that on 14 March 2007 a majority of MPs voted for the replacement of Trident".
S3M-169.4 Mike Rumbles: Trident—As an amendment to motion (S3M-169) in the name of Patrick Harvie, after "Trident" insert "recognises that decisions on matters of defence are matters within the responsibility of the UK Government and Parliament".
* Didn't know that? Targeting systems can be switched on and off by the US.
2 comments:
Didn't know that? Targeting systems can be switched on and off by the US.
The UK controls the launch codes and targeting data. While the US can 'turn' off the USGPS, British-controlled Tridents can still hit their targets--with a nuke it doesn't make a helluva lot of difference whether you hit 1 meter from your aim point, or 500 meters away. Trident's own inertial navigation ensures that the system WILL hit within a reasonable distance of the aim point. The Royal Navy uses its own positioning system to determine launch platform positions at any given time.
Yes, I was wrong about that. Anon is right.
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