Fox scraps Trident call

This is a press release I sent into the Edinburgh Evening News yesterday afternoon. Shortly after sending I saw a poll run by BBC Scotland which shows that a majority of Scottish MPs are opposed to nuclear weapons on the Clyde. Many of these MPs were Labour MPs and much pressure will be put on them in the coming weeks to back Tony Blair's plans to maintain weapons of mass destruction on the Clyde. The will of the Scottish people is clear - MPs are opposed to Trident and the feedback from the streets show that the public are opposed to Trident.
however the democratic deficit that arises from the Westminster system means that we will have these heinous machines of destruction foisted upon us by an unholy alliance of Labour and Tory MPs.
Surely the time has come for the people of Scotland to take control of their own affairs. Son of Trident highlights the fight, not only, for Scottish Independence but also for the kind of Scotland we are fighting for! A low waged haven for business where the privateers are in control using the Celtic tiger model favoured by the SNP or an independent republic based on principles of public ownership, equality and democracy?


Scottish Socialist Party MSP Colin Fox will press Christmas shoppers on Princes Street to write to Tony Blair and protest against Trident nuclear missiles. In particular the MSP is angry at the Prime Ministers decision to deny the country a meaningful say in the Trident debate. Fox believes the Cabinet has already made up its mind on the issue and that instructions have already been given to Ministry of Defence chiefs to spend upwards of £25bn on a second generation of Trident nuclear submarines.
The Lothians MSP told us
"When I visited the Atomic Weapons factory at Aldermaston in Berkshire in June I saw for myself the silo's where these nuclear weapons are manufactured. It was clear to me back then that plans were well advanced to build the new missiles.Contracts with American companies like Lockheed Martin and MacDonnell Douglas were already in place. As it happened, on the same day I visited Aldermaston, Gordon Brown announced that he had allocated the £25bn needed to replace these weapons of mass destruction in his budget settlement.
So I expect shoppers in Edinburgh today to take with a pinch of salt claims by Tony Blair that a full democratic debate will take place on whether or not we replace Trident before the Commons votes on it in late January. Just as he lied to us on Iraq he is lying to us again over our rights to a democratic debate. The decision has already been taken and his so called debate is a sham. This is the man who put the con into consultation".

The Lothians MSP believes public opinion in Scotland is heavily opposed to Trident nuclear weapons which are based at Faslane Naval headquarters on the Clyde.