Star Wars And Trident

EDM number 1351 in 2002-03, proposed by Jeremy Corbyn on 05/06/2003.

That this House congratulates thousands of the supporters of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the peace movement for their participation in the current 'No Star Wars Tour', which is taking them to Faslane Naval base, Fylingdales ballistic missile early warning radar, Lakenheath US nuclear weapons store, Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment and to the United States of America Embassy; notes that these places are directly connected to United Kingdom and United States of America nuclear weapons, which are the most awful weapons of mass destruction; is concerned that Star Wars Missile Defence is one major part of the US vision of complete military dominance over land, sea, air and space; regrets that the United Kingdom has granted permission for the United States of America to use Fylingdales as an integral part of its Missile Defence system; further regrets that the system will allow United States and United Kingdom forces to fire pre-emptive nuclear strikes against targets, and defend against limited retaliation; fears that this will promote nuclear proliferation and endanger world peace and security; regrets that each of the Untied Kingdom's four Trident nuclear weapons systems can fire up to 48 nuclear warheads with the total destructive power equal to 1,400 Hiroshimas; agrees with the July 1996 opinion by the International Court of Justice that 'the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict, and in particular the principles and rules of humanitarian law'; and therefore calls on Her Majesty's Government not only to honour its commitments under the 2000 NPT agreements, but also to heed the will of the people and de-commission Trident, thus releasing the ú1.5 billion which is spent every year sustaining the Trident to rejuvenate our crumbling social infrastructures.

This motion has been signed by a total of 24 MPs.