Nuclear weapons crime in the UK has been reported to Thames Valley Police.
Councillor warns of warhead route dangers
As part of their routine journeys between Berkshire and Coulport in Scotland, the nuclear warhead convoys travel from Argyll, over Erskine Bridge, and into Renfrewshire.
Former Renfrewshire Council leader Brian Lawson has warned of catastrophic consequences if a nuclear missile convoy is allowed to keep travelling on the M8.
The SNP man is concerned about the convoys travelling over the Erskine Bridge and through Renfrewshire on their way to naval bases.
The 19-vehicle convoys each carry up to six nuclear warheads, which are individually seven times as destructive as the A bomb that destroyed the entire city of Hiroshima in 1946.
Now, Councillor Lawson, the SNP leader in Renfrewshire, is urging Buddies to show their opposition at a Scottish CND demonstration in Glasgow tomorrow.
One convoy travelled along the M8 and over the Erskine Bridge in January, this year, and July of last year.
Councillor Lawson told the Paisley Daily Express: “These convoys could well be involved in a traffic accident, or even suffer a terrorist attack, causing a release of highly toxic radioactive material into the atmosphere.
“Even an explosion is possible. I am fearful for the life and health of people living and working along the route in Paisley and Erskine.
“The convoys go between the Coulport missile base, in Argyll, and the AWE atomic weapon factory, in the south of England, roughly every six weeks.
“They take various routes, endangering many communities on the way. The only way to end this is to get rid of nuclear weapons altogether, which is the objective of CND.”
Speakers at the demo and march, which leaves George Square, in Glasgow, at 11am on Saturday, include deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
It is part of the Peace Walk, which takes place between Holyrood and the Faslane nuclear base, and arrives in Glasgow today.
Councillor Lawson said: “The SNP has promised there will be no place for nuclear weapons in an independent Scotland, and this is what the majority of Scots want.
“A CND study has shown there is nowhere else in the rest of the UK with the necessary geographic characteristics to re-site the nuclear weapon system.
“So the effect of their removal from Scotland would be their removal from the UK.
“This would demonstrate what many military leaders privately believe, that nuclear weapons add nothing to a country’s security, are of no military use and only eat up massive resources.”
Councillor Lawson added that he is to ask the Labour leader of Renfrewshire Council to complain to the Minister for Defence on the routing of the nuclear convoys.
Source: Daily Record & Sunday Mail
