One Scientist's Opinion

Courtesy of Dr Grumble

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Gordon Brown is Considering Ditching Nuclear Weapons

Gordon Brown is considering ditching the new Trident nuclear deterrent to save money according to the Scottish edition of the Daily Mail. As ministers search for cuts in public services to plug soaring debts, the £20 billion replacements for the current nuclear arsenal could be scaled back, or the existing warheads made to last much longer.

The plans, which are being discussed by Cabinet ministers, emerged as the chancellor was accused of a cynical manoevre to hoodwink the public about how much money Labour will have to slash from front line services.

Ed Balls admitted yesterday that tough choices would be necessary and said, "I think if we are deft and we can get the economy right we can keep investing in schools, hospitals and our police at the front line." But in private ministers acknowledge that severe cuts will be necessary. 'Big Ticket' defence projects will be first in line.

Now MoD officials are actively considering a cheaper nuclear arsenal, which could see the UK reliant on missiles based in Britain or arming aircraft with nuclear bombs instead. Another proposal would see the lifespan of the current missiles extended to 2060.

An MoD source said, "All spending will be reviewed next year and that includes Trident." May I remind them to include safe equipment for the military. It is a disgrace that soldiers are being put at serious risk while politicians play games about who can lie the most.

Ah! So another urgent matter is to be delayed until after the general election. Of course it is part of the Comprehensive Spending Review which Alistair Darling kicked into the long grass last week. This Westminster government has no shame.

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Moridura - Say No to Nuclear Power

SAY NO TO NUCLEAR

Peter Curran of Moridura has made two videos giving his reasons as to why Scotland should say no to nuclear.  You can link to them here and here.

I did have both on this post but I've been told my blog is crashing Firefox 3.0.9 and the only reason I can think of is the videos overloaded it.

Do hope this solves the problem.

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UPDATE on Why Can't the Westminster Government Understand NO

UPDATE

I posted this earlier but I would like to bring your attention to a post by Peter Curran who write the Moridura blog.  In his latest post, along with his thoughts about nuclear, he has details of a Radio Scotland interview Alex Salmond had with Gary Robertson this morning.

As some of you can't access the BBC iPlayer I do hope you will find this worthy of a read. I certainly did.  

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Why Can't the UK Government Understand No?

Today's Scotsman has a dreadfully cheap headline 'Minister provokes nuclear war over Scotland's energy future.'  Aside from the over-dramatic headline, it seems we're to receive a visit from the UK government's Energy Secretary Ed Milliband today. Amazing isn't it, never see a high heid yin from Westminster for months and then suddenly they're all here to show us what a wonderful job they're doing for us all.

Ahead of his visit, Mr Milliband yesterday challenged the SNP to reverse its opposition to nuclear power "for the sake of the planet as well as jobs."  Now, where have I heard that before?  He went on, "Credible solutions to the challenge of climate change require we use the full range of low-carbon fuels.  Even previous opponents of nuclear power have accepted that it is wrong to rule out new nuclear in these circumstances." Dizzy has some interesting information about nuclear companies which is worth a read.

While Mr Millband is promoting his love of nuclear energy, our own Jim Mather will be visiting the Isle of Lewis where a controversial 53 turbine wind farm near the Callanish standing stones is expected to be given the go-ahead shortly.  A spokesman for Mr Salmond accused Mr Milliband of trying to dictate Scotland's energy policy and of frustrating its efforts towards renewables. "We would never seek to interfere in the energy debate south of the Border," he said. "Similarly it's not Ed Milliband's job to dictate an energy strategy north of the border."

Scotland doesn't want new nuclear.  We want to base our future and our children's future on renewable energy.  Why can't the UK government understand the word NO?  For many reasons I suspect not least some of them given by Dizzy on his blog.  We know where we're going with our energy policies and it's time Westminster realised we won't be bullied by them or anyone else.

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