The BASIC Trident Commission publishes its second discussion paper Wednesday 21 March on the defence industrial aspects of the forthcoming decision on Trident renewal, and in particular the construction of the next generation of SSBN nuclear submarines.
Trident Commission
Defence-Industrial Issues: Employment, Skills, Technology and Regional Impacts
This second BASIC Trident Commission report focuses on issues around jobs, the maintenance of skills and technology and the regional economic concerns that will inevitably have an impact on political decisions.
Professor Keith Hartley analyses the impacts arising from possible options and concludes that if a future government decided to cancel the programme we would be looking at jobs losses of around 9,200 jobs mainly after 2025 followed by the loss of a further 21,700 jobs after 2052: amounting to a total of almost 31,000 jobs being lost.
This Week: Trident Commission turbines are turning
Tonight the Trident Commission hosts the first of its public events to involve Parliamentarians and others in the brewing debate over this stage in Britain’s nuclear weapons development. It will be holding a Question Time in Parliament on Britain’s nuclear choices, hosted by Anita Anand of the BBC in the chair with Baroness Williams, Julian Lewis MP, David Omand, Prof Mike Clarke and Tim Hare on the panel.
Media Release: First BASIC Trident Commission Paper Points To Worrying Trends in the World’s Nuclear Armed States
The BASIC Trident Commission publishes its first discussion paper Monday 31 October on recent worrying developments in the nuclear force structures of the world’s nuclear armed states. The report argues that “the evidence points to a new era of global nuclear force modernisation and growth”. The paper published with a Foreword from the Commission co-Chairs, is written by Ian Kearns and present evidence that:
Beyond the UK: Trends in the Other Nuclear Armed States
This first BASIC Trident Commission briefing outlines recent worrying developments in the nuclear force structures of the world’s nuclear armed states. It argues that “the evidence points to a new era of global nuclear force modernisation and growth”.
Initial Gate
This third briefing on Nuclear Security focuses on the Government’s announcement of the passing of the Initial Gate decision for the Trident renewal project on 18 May, 2011
It will be too late to halt Trident’s replacement if we don’t talk now
Britain's nuclear weapons strategy will be subjected to unprecedented independent scrutiny by a group of senior defence, diplomatic, scientific and political figures who have come together to form BASIC's Trident Commission. BASIC has set up this independent, cross-party commission to examine the United Kingdom’s nuclear weapons policy and the issue of Trident renewal. The Commission will report on evidence received in early 2012.
UK defence minister: case for Trident is ‘thin’
Ian Kearns recently asked a government official what studies had been done into how long it would take and what it would cost to reconstitute the Trident deterrent if it were withdrawn from active deployment.”
The answer: none.