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Trident
For the moment it looks like Trident's future is secure- we will be commissioning new nuclear missiles over the coming years. Personally I am in favour of this. With the possibility of rogue states acquiring nuclear weapons never far away, it would be unwise to leave ourselves vulnerable and dependent on France and the United States for protection.
That's not say that I think we should discount disarmament as a possibility in the future and I think Britain should be standing strong within the discussions of non-proliferation and eventual global disarmament.
Obviously the Dockyard's future is tied up in all this which makes it a hot topic locally. Some are passionate about Devonport and the role it plays within the local area. Others dispute it's importance and are fundamentally against it continuing to operate.
What do you think? Is Devonport a vital part of Plymouth and SW Devon? or should we now be focusing our energies elsewhere?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Gary.
posted by Gary Streeter M.P. on Monday, March 26, 2007
2 Comments:
test this system for me please
Yes - Plymouth is a relatively poor city already, with little industry to create employment. The poor transport links to the region are not helping to improve prospects. The University is expanding and tourism is important of course, but the Dockyard clearly remains very important to the local economy. The work that it does on our nuclear submarines forms a substantial part of that contribution.
I also agree that it is entirely right to keep our nuclear deterrent in a world that is becoming more dangerous by the year. Much is spoken of how much it is costing us.
Building new submarines has for example been estimated to cost about 20 billion pounds over about 20 years which is 1 billion pounds in one year. Contrast this to the annual NHS budget of 96 billion or the expenditure on state benefits that tops 100 billion pounds each and every year. I think the sums spent on the retention of our nuclear capability in defence of our nation to be modest and affordable.
Incidentally, I sent this contribution to Have Your Say over a week ago on 1 April and I am submitting it again as it has not appeared as yet. I do find that the comment moderation and approval processes that are now being applied are not working very well from my point of view. Indeed, to this last blog, they have failed to work at all! All very frustrating I am sure you will agree?
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