MOSCOW (Sputnik), Daria Chernyshova — Earlier in the day, British media reported, citing lawmaker estimates based on official figures, that the cost of revamping the UK nuclear system, which includes four Trident ballistic missile-equipped submarines docked at the Clyde naval base, in Faslane, Scotland, would be increased to 167 billion pounds ($256 billion), up from an original estimate of 100 billion pounds.
"Nuclear weapons are not a deterrent for the sorts of attacks that we might see from terror groups," Ian Chamberlain said, commenting on reports that London was significantly increasing the price tag on the nuclear weapon program.
Chamberlain stressed that, alongside his organization, citizens in the country are alarmed by the sudden and marked increase in expense, especially in a time of painful austerity for low-income people. He stressed that, as many military figures point out, "Trident is transferring funds away from more conventional weaponry, more conventional security and defense spending."
Nuclear Weapons Make UK Target for Terrorists
The spokesperson also said that the infrastructure for maintaining nuclear weapons makes the United Kingdom a target for terrorists, as transportation of dangerous substances creates a risk of theft.
"We would argue that this [nuclear] defense deterrent makes us very vulnerable to terror attacks and actually makes us a target of terror attacks, and the sort of security issues that we face like terrorism, pandemics…obviously Trident does not deal to tackle those issues," Ian Chamberlain said.
Chamberlain added that having and maintaining nuclear weapons requires "a whole nuclear industry and that increases the demand for uranium, increases the supply of uranium, so you have got dangerous substances transported across the world, this means they are more accessible to terrorist groups."
The UK parliament will vote on a successor to the Trident program next year. At the same time, the government is discussing deep public spending and welfare cuts that will primarily affect low-income families.
The UK Royal Navy’s Faslane naval base is the only facility in the country capable of hosting the four Vanguard-class Trident ballistic missile-equipped submarines.
