By Martin Docherty-Hughes, SNP MP, West Dunbartonshire
IT was a script that may seem eerily familiar to fans of Sky and HBO’s hit series Chernobyl. A mysterious warning message across TV screens in Moscow; warnings from local government sources to expect radiation surges, quickly withdrawn; a surge in purchases of iodine tablets; a host of Western nuclear monitoring stations report a spike in rare radioactive isotopes, as their Russian counterparts fall mysteriously silent; and finally, some time later, Russian central government sources indirectly acknowledge the nuclear accident and the sacrifice that scientists have made for the motherland.
Yet this was very much a 21st century reality-horror, as seven scientists died earlier this month in an as-yet unexplained accident at a missile testing facility in the sea close to Arkhangelsk Oblast, close to the Finnish border.
Beyond not knowing exactly how the scientists died, or what the environmental damage was in one of Northern Europe’s most pristine wildernesses, there was a growing horror that this may foreshadow a return to a Cold War-style nuclear arms race, and further destabilise European security.
The origins in these tragic tests lies in last year’s annual State of the Union address given Vladimir Putin where, in front of “Dr Strangelove” screens, he unveiled a new suite of Russian nuclear weapons including a drone torpedo, a hypersonic missile designed to evade interception, and a final device, to be powered by its own nuclear reactor to give it an almost unlimited lifespan, which quickly gained the nickname Skyfall – although many wondered if the technology was really feasible.
Regardless, it was a retrograde step, further compounded by the final decision of the Trump administration earlier this month to take the United States out of the 1987 INF treaty, which had provided an imperfect but vital framework for post Cold War nuclear arms control.
“Nuclear arms control is in a precarious place,” said the report released inn April by the Defence Select Committee, of which I am a member. “The Russian Federation’s poor record of compliance, over decades, across a range of treaties and agreements is indicative of its cavalier and cynical attitude to arms control and other agreements which it considers no longer serve its interests.”
But it ended on a brighter note: “This does not mean the UK and its allies should give up in despair: efforts to promote arms control should continue.”
But where is the UK Government in all of this? In my experience as a Member of Parliament who takes a great interest in defence and security debates, it is often unwilling to concede that the current nuclear arms control framework is in tatters, lest anyone point out that its own procurement on a new class of Trident-carrying submarines is scrutinised too much.
And what is the value of the so-called”special relationship” if our new Prime Minister cannot speak frankly to the 45th President about the current US administration’s willingness to follow Mr Putin down the rabbit hole of a 21st century nuclear arms race none of us can afford? Many MPs are aghast at the way which this Tory Government is happy to trade our long term strategic security for the quick win of post-Brexit trade deals, whatever the cost.
So while many cannot tear their eyes away from Brexit, we must be alive to developments beyond these shores that threaten peace and security: that’s why I and my SNP colleagues will continue to work with MPs across the chamber to secure a world free of nuclear weapons, and to stop this 21st century arms race.
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