It runs on an obsolete version of Windows and creates work for the USA rather than the UK, but the Tories – and Slick Owen Smith – want to keep it, just in case they feel the need to commit genocide.

That’s what This Writer found out in advance of the Commons vote on Trident, called by Theresa May, today (Monday, July 18).

The motion, couched in overcomplicated language, comes down to this: “The Commons support the Conservative Government’s assessment that it is essential to keep Trident ‘for as long as the global security situation demands’ [an interesting and arbitrary choice of words!] to deter the most extreme threats to the UK’s national security and way of life and that of the UK’s allies; supports the decision to maintain this situation by replacing the current extremely expensive submarines with four new, extremely expensive submarines; recognises the importance of this programme to the UK’s defence industry, and in supporting thousands of engineering jobs [all but 520 of which are based in America]; notes that the government will provide annual reports to Parliament; recognises that the UK is committed to reducing its nuclear weapons stockpile by the mid-2020s; and supports the government’s commitment to continue work towards a safer and more stable world [seriously, this is in the motion], pressing for… multilateral disarmament.”

The motion could seriously harm the Labour leadership election prospects of Slick Owen Smith, who quite clearly told Andrew Marr yesterday (Sunday) not only that he believed in nuclear disarmament but that the UK needed its nuclear weapons to achieve this, but also that – if he was asked to do it – he would certainly press the nuclear button an “annihilate millions of people”.

What a nice guy!

The best that can be said about Slick Owen’s view is this:

If you want to know the effects of a Trident detonation near your home, visit this site, drag the red marker to your town, set it for a Trident detonation and see how many of your immediate family would survive (quick answer: none).

Let’s move on to jobs.

In fact, Trident supports just 520 jobs in Faslane, Scotland. Here’s an infographic about it:

If you still don’t believe that Trident doesn’t employ thousands of people here, but does so in the USA, see this:

Finally, you’ll be interested to know that Trident runs on an obsolete version of Microsoft Windows – Windows XP (or, amusingly, Windows for Submarines).

By now, you may be feeling distinctly less secure about Trident than you were at the start of this article. It isn’t just about the cost; it’s about the whole package.

And if you’re still undecided, let’s end on a handy little list of Trident problems (created before George Osborne was sacked):

So, what do you think? Is Trident worth it? Or is it just an extremely expensive ego-boost for politicians like Slick Owen Smith, who think being able to kill millions makes them special?

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