TRIDENT must be scrapped, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) said today as it branded two consecutive missile test failures a “colossal waste of public money.”
The government admitted an “anomaly” had occurred during an exercise off the coast of Florida, United States, on January 30.
It is the second misfiring in a row, with a test launch of a Trident missile by the Royal Navy off the coast of the US in June 2016 also reported to have been a failure.
CND general secretary Kate Hudson said: “The government can try and spin this, but nuclear weapons are clearly useless — as well as being a colossal waste of public money at the expense of vital public services.
“It’s time to stop the waste and get rid of these weapons of mass destruction once and for all.”
Shadow defence secretary John Healey said: “Reports of a Trident test failure are concerning.
“The Defence Secretary will want to reassure Parliament that this test has no impact on the effectiveness of Britain’s deterrent operations.”
Today Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said that the government retains “absolute confidence” in the nuclear deterrent.
In a written statement to Parliament, he said the “anomaly” during an exercise involving the ballistic missile submarine HMS Vanguard had “no implications” for Britain’s ability to deploy nuclear weapons.
He also reiterated the country’s commitment to its nuclear deterrent, saying that its “resolve and capability” to deploy nuclear weapons if necessary “remains beyond doubt.”
SNP defence spokesperson Martin Docherty-Hughes MP said the failure was “symptomatic of the UK’s government’s wider defence spending and strategy.”
“This is the second failed test in a row of weapons that are costing us tens of billions — an embarrassing and scandalous fact that should serve as a wake-up call to the UK government,” he said.
Scottish Green MSP Mark Ruskell said: “Nuclear weapons are a grotesque and destructive moral abomination that have no place in any kind of vision for a peaceful future.”
The Ministry of Defence said that First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key was also present at the time to mark what was the final exercise for Vanguard and its crew after undergoing a refit that took more than seven years.
Between £31 billion and £41bn has been set aside to replace the Vanguard-class submarines, official figures say.
