Parliament deserves full disclosure on missile test, says Caroline Lucas
23 January 2017
* Lucas demands that the Prime Minister comes to the House of Commons to give details on missile test
Caroline Lucas, the Green Party co-leader and Chair of Parliamentary CND, is calling for ‘full disclosure’ of the details of testing ‘failure’ of a Trident missile.
Lucas – whose party opposes the renewal of the Trident – is demanding that the Prime Minister herself comes to the House of Commons today to give MPs further details of what happened in the missile test.
She said:
“These hugely expensive missile test rarely happen, so any single failure must be taken extremely seriously. Being in charge of our nuclear arsenal is one of the most crucial jobs of the Prime Minister, which is why Theresa May herself should come to the House of Commons today to give MPs details of what happened last June. Nothing short of full disclosure on this matter is acceptable.
“A missile veering off course is deeply concerning. Imagine such a failure occurring in a ‘real world’ situation – it could lead to the slaughter of millions of people in an ally’s country. How can the Government possibly make an argument for a deterrent when the only recent test shows that the weapon cannot be relied upon?
“Replacing Trident is neither necessary nor sensible. Missile test failures only add to the overwhelming amount of evidence against Trident renewal. Rather than pouring billions into this cold war relic we should be providing our troops with the equipment they need to keep safe – and investing in real security measures for a country under strain like a fully-functioning NHS and a world-class social care system.”
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