Dear all,

Please find this week’s roundup below. This will be the last one for 2024 with the next email to come on 10 January 2025. Thank you all for your continued support and wishing you all a very peaceful Christmas and New Year.

CND Weekly Digest: Friday, 20 November 2024

Britain

• UK Defence Journal: The Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) has detailed progress in its Dreadnought and SSN-A submarine programmes.

• Let’s make 2025 the year Armed Forces nuclear test veterans get justice, saysManchester mayor, Andy Burnham.

• The Telegraph ran a story earlier this week on NATO member spending commitments, suggesting British taxes would have to rise by an additional £20bn a year if military spending was to reach 3 per cent of GDP. Britain spent £54.2bn on defence last year, which amounted to 2.3 per cent of national wealth.

•  That’s as the FT reports that “the UK needs to spend 3.6 per cent of GDP on defence if it wants to modernise its military while protecting its nuclear deterrent and meeting NATO obligations, according to internal Ministry of Defence calculations.” That figure would take spending to about £93 billion.

Ukraine

• A senior Russian general was killed by an exploding scooter in an assassination believed to be carried out by the Ukrainian secret service. Igor Kirillov was in change of Russia’s chemical unit and had been accused by Kiev of being behind chemical attacks on the frontline in Ukraine.
• Peace talks with Russia only possible when Moscow runs out of resources, Ukraine’s Yermak says.

Global Nukes

• The Telegraph on Tuesday ran a piece on so-called tactical nuclear weapons development, warning that Russia was running ahead of NATO in their development, and urged the need to catch up. The piece also mentions that RAF Lakenheath is being prepared for the return of US nuclear weapons.
• Politico: China is rapidly expanding nuclear forces, says Pentagon. US defence department reports that Beijing has increased operational nuclear warhead arsenal by 20 per cent in a year.
• From the European Leadership Network: Stop the bleeding: How to protect existing NPT disarmament agreements and commitments.

UK Nuclear Power

• The East Anglian Daily Times on the various developments at Sizewell C over the past 12 months.
• Meanwhile, the National Nuclear Laboratory has been given a new mission and role following a strategic review.

Nuclear Power

• The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether public support that Poland plans to grant for a nuclear power plant in Lubiatowo-Kopalino is in line with EU State aid rules.

• Japan plans to double reliance on nuclear power, 13 years after Fukushima disaster. New draft policy calls for nuclear power to meet 20 per cent of national energy needs by 2040 as against 8.5 per cent now.

Middle East

• Associated Press reports on hopes for a Gaza-Israel ceasefire deal, with negotiations believed to be close to completion in Cairo.
• Members of the South Lakeland and Lancaster District CND braved Storm Darragh to PLC in Burneside. They called on the company to stop supplying materials used to build F35 combat aircraft for Israel.
• The Georgetown Security Studies Review assesses Saudi Arabia’s nuclear behavior.
• Reuters: Pakistan’s missile programme is ‘emerging threat’, top US official says.

Iran

• NATO / Europe
  • Responsible Statecraft: NATO countries spending 3%? That’s empire. Mark Rutte wants Cold War spending but Russia is in no way the same adversary, calling into question real motives.
  • Watch back on CND’s recent webinar about the Trump presidency and what it will mean for NATO, the war in Ukraine, and nuclear weapons.

  AUKUS

  • US national security adviser Sullivan says Trump should like ‘burden sharing’ AUKUS deal.
  • The Australian and UK Governments have announced a significant milestone between the Australian Submarine Agency (ASA) and industry partners that will support the delivery of the SSN AUKUS fleet of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy.
  • Meanwhile a former admiral urges Australia to renege on AUKUS deal and buy French subs.
  • Foreign Policy: Rewriting the Rules of Submarine Stealth. Does the landmark AUKUS deal make sense in an age of increased ocean transparency?

  Best,

   

  Pádraig McCarrick

   

  Press and Communications Officer

  Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament