By IRNA,
Tehran : With Scotland hosting British nuclear bases for a few decades, the wave of dissatisfaction among the Scottish people has led to a conflict between people and local officials as well as the Scottish ruling system and London.
The Scottish people and authorities have, in different forms, voiced their opposition to deployment of British nuclear warheads in their homelands. They are thinking about “Scotland free from nuclear arms”.
Terming British policies as dangerous, various Scottish groups and parties have called for elimination of all kinds of nuclear arms on their soil.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in its recent report reiterated that the world’s situation has deteriorated due to an increase in the level of nuclear arms on the Earth.
Out of 500 British nuclear warheads, 200 are deployed in in the British bases in Scottish territory, the report added.
Meanwhile, the British government has suppressed and arrested many people opposing its nuclear policies, the report said, referring to abduction of over 100 Scottish people who staged a protest rally three years ago in London.
The Daily ‘Herald Scotland’ in its recent article titled “Anger as US arms dealer takes over running of Scottish nuclear bomb base” commented on the Scottish people’s wrath against Washington’s arms policies.
The running of Britain’s nuclear bomb base at Coulport on the Clyde is to be handed over to a consortium of multinational private firms led by the controversial US arms dealer, Lockheed Martin, the daily said.
William Hartung, from the Center for International Policy in New York and the author of a book on the Lockheed Martin, said a nuclear weapons depot was much too sensitive to be handed over to a private firm.
But this is unlikely to satisfy critics. Peter Burt from the Nuclear Information Service in Reading urged the Scottish government to ensure that the new operational and safety arrangements at Coulport are subject to the highest standards of independent scrutiny and regulation.
He said: “As with virtually every aspect of the Trident nuclear weapons program, this decision has been taken in secret and we have no idea of the costs or risks associated with it.”
In related developments, Scotland’s Catholic figurehead has urged the UK government to give up its ‘shameful’ nuclear weapon program.
Cardinal Keith O’Brien was addressing a rally against nuclear weapons quoting the words of Pope Benedict XVI. He said: ‘In a nuclear war there would be no victors, only victims.’
‘As you’ll see, it’s a consistent teaching, a central part of our pro-life stance, that has human dignity at its very core.
‘And it’s a message I’m all the more glad to repeat here at the gates of Faslane, which is the very heart of Britain’s nuclear weapons industry.’
Cardinal O’Brien said Trident was becoming obsolete, providing the opportunity to give it up.
He added: ‘Here at the gates of Faslane, there is no better place to say that it is not courageous of Britain to have these dreadful weapons of mass destruction.
‘It is shameful to have them. If our government wished to truly be courageous it would unilaterally give up its nuclear deterrent, giving the witness and impetus for other nations to do the same.’
The Daily ‘Sunday Post’ also criticized nuclear policies and wrote such policies would endanger the world’s environmental situation. Such policies would also create serious concerns, it added.
Jim Murphy, a British Labor Party politician and Shadow Secretary of State for Defense also stressed that the people are so concerned over the issue.
According to an opinion poll conducted by Daily ‘Scotsman’ a large group of people are opposed to construction of a new nuclear power plant on Scotland’s northern borderline. There were only 18 percent of the people for the issue and the rest were against it.
The reports prove that tension is escalating between Scotland and Britain.
Alastair Mcintosh, leader of an Scottish peace group told IRNA that while a large group of people are against British arms and nuclear policies, many criticize the logic of presence of submarines carrying Trident missiles.
As long as London continues such policies, the Church and the people are against deployment of British nuclear armaments in their territories, he added.