Stefan Rousseau/PA
By
Hazel Speed
It never ceases to amaze me how Mr Cameron is grazing in pastures new while Mrs May and the Citizens of this Country are following him with a bucket and spade!
Trident
As many people see it, the current ‘fiasco’ comprises of three elements:-
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What did Mrs May inherit when she became Prime Minister?
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Even if she did have prior knowledge of the failed missile test, was it relevant for the vote in Parliament regarding renewal of the Trident System?
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How does Parliament and the People know when any nuclear defence system fails sufficiently that it should be abandoned in favour of another form of equivalent nuclear weaponry?
If there is an Enquiry then it is imperative that Mr Cameron is the first to be called to account as it happened on his watch as Prime Minister of the day. Did he share the knowledge of the failed test, and with whom at the time, and/or inform Mrs May when she became Prime Minister; is this merely ‘the sins of the Father’ being carried by Mrs May? I am interested to learn how this information came to be public knowledge.
Regarding the second question. No, I do not think it was relevant to the vote in Parliament except for one caveat which would come under the Official Secrets Act anyway, i.e. What historically is the significance of this failure in numbers of overall tests and failures? It was a bad coincidence that the incident occurred when it did regarding the vote in Parliament.
Considering the enormity concerning Brexit and inept Opposition that will seize any political bone to chew over incessantly then Mrs May was wise and acting within her remit not to bring the matter before Parliament at that time.
The third question is however far more serious as both Parliament and the people of the United Kingdom would have the immediate and express urgent right to be told IF Trident was considered dubiously unreliable.
As already mooted by another commentator whose comments I respect, if it related in a general political time frame, the Russians probably knew at the time before the British people by the Russian’s own monitoring capacities. That said, the Russians were not in the middle of a Brexit or have an Opposition like Mr Corbyn & Co. We also know how they might solve the issues which Mrs Sturgeon continues to bellow about. Even the Russians have the odd failed tests of their own. They could even have considered it as being a deliberate ploy, and why not?!
So there exists a dichotomy between a need for the highest secrecy on one hand and an agency of sorts in the middle to know when it is time for the people to be told via Parliament that another nuclear deterrent needs to be found.
One would think a Defence Select Committee could do that job ‘In Camera’ and it is taken ‘as read’ that is their raison d’etre.
Another reason Mrs May probably wouldn’t disclose such pertinent facts to Parliament may be that she is fully aware the Opposition would seize an opportunity to suggest wet sponges at 20 paces against an enemy rather than any other nuclear alternative weaponry.
Mrs May assures us that renewing Trident means we have the best nuclear system there is and, provided the answer to Question 3 is as along the general lines of caveat as I have alluded to herein, then I say let Mrs May get on with her job.
Amazing, considering I am not a Conservative but I happen to think that sometimes the right person is in the correct job, Party politics aside. Remember, she has to be able to sleep at night too!
Hazel Speed
Photo (c) Hazel Speed – used by kind permision to Tuck Magazine
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