On Saturday 7 June, just days after the government published its Strategic Defence Review (SDR), the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Plymouth residents will be calling for a rethink of the disastrous nuclear expansion outlined in the Review – highlighting the nuclear dangers at the Devonport Dockyard.
In the run up to Saturday’s demonstration, residents protested at the office of local MP and Armed Forces Minister, Luke Pollard when he failed to meet them. They argue that he is not taking seriously the dangers of living next to a nuclear base, and is failing to admit the economic deprivation, not prosperity, that characterises areas like Devonport. Pollard has now agreed to meet them.
The Dockyard, which maintains Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet, has had at least ten serious nuclear leaks in the past thirty years, with over 570 litres of radioactive liquid leaking in that time. These accidents mean local people feel increasingly anxious regarding the ongoing radioactive contamination of their environment.
Saturday’s protest will also highlight the out-of-control costs of Britain’s nuclear weapons programme, with mid-life maintenance work of a single Vanguard-class submarine now estimated to cost at least £560 million. Billions of pounds of public money are being poured into the arms company Babcock, which manages the nuclear naval base, with an annual turnover of £4.5 billion. Yet according to the Public Health Service, Devonport’s local index of social deprivation is 44, twice the annual average. Child poverty rates are over 35% in some wards. Public services in the area are also near collapse. Plymouth’s regional hospital is now making cuts to the 11,000 staff, whilst the University is in financial crisis, and making 200 redundancies.
Plans outlined in the SDR to build up to 12 new nuclear-powered submarines, mean that the Dockyard could be facing an even greater backlog of submarines to decommission. Currently 15 nuclear submarines sit rotting in the dock, needing constant cooling and patching to prevent radioactive leaks.
CND is arguing that, instead of pouring billions into deadly nuclear weapons, the government should spend it on rebuilding public services, and jobs diversification programmes. Investment in areas like Devonport could develop the coastline for construction of sustainable wind and wave electricity generators. This would create highly skilled, decent jobs that don’t threaten people or planet.
CND supports the Alternative Defence Review – a report that presents an alternative security strategy that works to build genuine peace and jobs that ensure prosperity for all.
DEMONSTRATION DETAILS:
• 12 noon: assemble on Guildhall Square, Armada Way in Plymouth city centre (an accessible pedestrian walk from the Rail and coach stations) for a march and rally.
• From 1pm: an open top bus will take everyone on a tour of Plymouth and its nuclear links.
• 2:15pm: assembly at the gates of the Trident nuclear dockyard, Camel’s Head, Devonport.
CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt said:
“The nuclear dangers at bases like Devonport, with ongoing radioactive leaks, show that nuclear weapons do not keep us safe. On the contrary, building more nuclear weapons will only make the risk of them being used even higher. The terrible levels of deprivation here also expose the lie that spending billions on militarism and nuclear weapons is good for the economy.
“This is the grim reality of places like Devonport that are dominated by arms companies: public money goes into shareholders’ pockets, not the local community. Instead, research shows that investing in health and education are far more jobs-rich than defence. And they’re safer. The people of Devonport deserve better.”
Local resident and CND Vice-Chair Tony Staunton said:
“Ahead of the Strategic Defence Review, we wrote to Luke Pollard MP asking for a meeting to discuss the poor choices and urgent dangers posed by nuclear weapons to the people of Plymouth. We had to wait ten days for a response, and he only offered a meeting – in six weeks’ time – after local media reported on our plan to lobby his office.
“We have years of work at the Shipyard to oversee the dismantling of older nuclear submarines and making their toxic legacy safe. But they’re rusting and leaking in the dockyard while current fleets are maintained. Plymouth needs a jobs plan for the future, one that takes the billions of pounds wasted on nuclear weapons and uses it to turn communities like Devonport into sustainable hubs of green industry.”