Motorists, Equity & Unity Party
Opinion Column Archives
No. 26 The UK’s Independent Nuclear Defence System (Trident) safe with New Labour. (Chancellor’s annual Mansion House speech to the City)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer in his address at the Mansion House reassured his audience that our nuclear defence system would be supported to the tune of £Billions for the foreseeable future (next 25 years).
The first point we in the ME & U Party would make is that we are now in the European Union (25 member countries) and it seems prudent in such circumstances that our defence should be mutual and therefore paid for by all member countries. The cold war ended some time ago and there is no obvious antagonist to be launching nuclear weapons in the direction of the United Kingdom !
Surely, at a time when the west is demanding that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons we should be setting an example and preparing for dismantling of such weaponry during the next 25 years provided that there are no indications of an emerging threat.
The £Billions that are envisaged for updating or replacing the present nuclear deterrent, viz. ‘Trident’ could be far better spent on the multitude of projects that are required for our country. Our greatest threat is not from Nuclear Attack but by invasion of illegal immigrants. The UK has one of the highest ratios of coast-line to population in Europe. Our coast guard facilities have been reduced considerably. Our checks on visitors to the country are laissez-faire and from what has emanated from the media recently it would appear that registering for employment is a mere formality. Being born in the UK doesn’t appear to be a requirement any longer.
Our prisons are full and yet we are still using the same techniques that have proved futile and, with the help of money diverted from the proposed updating of Trident we could invest in facilities that will have a marked effect on the size of the prison population. Surely this would be a far more constructive use of resources rather than preparing to annihilate one another with nuclear weapons.
The USA company Microsoft has a virtual monopoly on the operating system of most UK computers (domestic) and it would seem sensible that we start to develop an alternative operating system (European) to address the balance in this particular sphere. One of the drives of Margaret Thatcher was to privatise companies in order to foster competition yet we don’t appear to be making that effort to compete with Microsoft. It is time for the government to offer incentives for software companies to come up with an alternative for the European market - this could be a cooperative effort between European member states. It is very noble of Bill Gates to be distributing his multi-billion dollar wealth to poor countries but it should be borne in mind that we in the UK are very generous to such situations and would prefer to have the choice of where we spend our money (software) and helping countries in desperate circumstances. The one accolade that the UK possesses is that we give aid regardless of whether we will benefit indirectly from such charity.
We would add once again that the best help the developed world can give to African nations is guaranteed (minimum) prices for their agricultural produce. In this way they can be sure of a realistic income for their labours and develop their communities by their own hands. Misplaced charity can result in dependence which can be destructive to local social adhesion thereby causing more harm than good. Direct food aid to countries effected by war or famine being the exception, overseen by United Nations agencies.
The first point we in the ME & U Party would make is that we are now in the European Union (25 member countries) and it seems prudent in such circumstances that our defence should be mutual and therefore paid for by all member countries. The cold war ended some time ago and there is no obvious antagonist to be launching nuclear weapons in the direction of the United Kingdom !
Surely, at a time when the west is demanding that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons we should be setting an example and preparing for dismantling of such weaponry during the next 25 years provided that there are no indications of an emerging threat.
The £Billions that are envisaged for updating or replacing the present nuclear deterrent, viz. ‘Trident’ could be far better spent on the multitude of projects that are required for our country. Our greatest threat is not from Nuclear Attack but by invasion of illegal immigrants. The UK has one of the highest ratios of coast-
Our prisons are full and yet we are still using the same techniques that have proved futile and, with the help of money diverted from the proposed updating of Trident we could invest in facilities that will have a marked effect on the size of the prison population. Surely this would be a far more constructive use of resources rather than preparing to annihilate one another with nuclear weapons.
The USA company Microsoft has a virtual monopoly on the operating system of most UK computers (domestic) and it would seem sensible that we start to develop an alternative operating system (European) to address the balance in this particular sphere. One of the drives of Margaret Thatcher was to privatise companies in order to foster competition yet we don’t appear to be making that effort to compete with Microsoft. It is time for the government to offer incentives for software companies to come up with an alternative for the European market -
We would add once again that the best help the developed world can give to African nations is guaranteed (minimum) prices for their agricultural produce. In this way they can be sure of a realistic income for their labours and develop their communities by their own hands. Misplaced charity can result in dependence which can be destructive to local social adhesion thereby causing more harm than good. Direct food aid to countries effected by war or famine being the exception, overseen by United Nations agencies.
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