Secret Aldermaston Sell-Off is a Major Threat to Safety (David Rendel)

Secret Aldermaston Sell-Off is a Major Threat to Safety

December 21, 2008 11:56 PM

"Throwing away the last vestiges of control over the entire research, production and maintenance of Britain's nuclear weapons makes a nonsense of any claim that Britain can any longer ensure levels of safety at Aldermaston", said David Rendel, Newbury's Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson, when the news broke today.

"By refusing to announce this decision openly in Parliament, the Government has shown how embarrassed it is to have sold off Britain's control of our so-called independent nuclear weapons in what appears to be a desperate attempt to put a short-term plug into the hole in Britain's finances.

"It was always a dreadful mistake to privatize the most vital and the most potentially dangerous part of our defence industry, particularly when it was sold to companies with as poor a safety record as BNFL. So I was pleased when I heard some months ago that BNFL's part share was to be sold.

"But that was when I assumed that the Government would not dream of selling the whole organisation into foreign hands. Now they have compounded the problem of ensuring AWE's safety many times over.

"Concerns over safety will of course be greatest in West Berkshire around the Burghfield and Aldermaston sites themselves. But the potential terrorist threat makes this a safety issue for the whole country. I am delighted to see that my old friend the Liberal Democrat Defence Spokesperson, Nick Harvey MP, has been speaking out against the decision. I hope Newbury's own MP will do likewise."