Nuclear Weapons Restriction Bill 2016

A bill to scrap the Trident missile program and to ban the future construction of nuclear weapons.

BE IT ENACTED by The Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Commons in this present Parliament assembled, in accordance with the provisions of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-’

1 Overview & Definitions

(1) Notes Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

(a) “Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.”

(2) Notes the Advisory Opinion on Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons by the International Court of Justice

(a) “[T]he threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict, and in particular the principles and rules of humanitarian law”

(b) “[S]tates must never make civilians the object of attack and must consequently never use weapons that are incapable of distinguishing between civilian and military targets”

(3) Notes the cost of £25 billion to replace the Trident Missile System with the estimated lifetime cost of £100 billion.

(4) Notes the launch of the 40 warheads of a typical Trident nuclear submarine would result in an estimated 5 million deaths

(5) Defines a nuclear weapon as any weapon which uses a nuclear reaction to cause an explosion.

2 Restriction in the Ownership and Production of Nuclear Weapons

(1) Nuclear weapons shall be prohibited within the United Kingdom or any of its territories.

(2) The Government of the United Kingdom shall be prohibited from producing nuclear weapons.

(3) The Government of the United Kingdom shall be prohibited from owning, leasing, renting or otherwise having nuclear weapons under its control.

3 Disarmament of Current Nuclear Arsenals

(1) In compliance of Section 2, Subsection 3 the start of the disarmament process shall occur no later than 1st July 2016

(2) All four Vanguard-Class submarines shall be ordered to return to HMNB Clyde by 1st July 2016

(3) Launch keys and triggers shall be removed from the submarines within 24 hours of the return to HMNB Clyde and be moved to a secure site onshore

(4) All eight missiles on each submarine shall be de-activated within one week of the return to HMNB Clyde.

(5) All warheads shall be removed from the armed submarines within 2 months of the return to HMNB Clyde

(6) Within 2 weeks of the removal of the warheads, two of the submarines 8 missiles shall be moved to the Ready Issue Magazines at Coulport. The remaining 8 missiles shall remain in the submarine.

(7) After the removal of the warheads from the submarines the process to disable the warheads and remove the Limited Life Components (LLC) shall begin within 3 days.

(8) After the LLCs have been removed from the warheads, the warheads shall be stored at RAF Honington.

(9) After this the warheads shall be dismantled at AWE Burghfield.

(10) After the warheads have been removed from the missiles they shall either:

(a) be returned to the United States or

(b) new facilities shall be constructed at Coulport to dismantle the missiles

4 Commencement, Short Title and Extent

(1) This bill may be cited as the Nuclear Weapons Restriction Bill 2016

(2) This bill extends to the whole United Kingdom

(3) This bill will come into effect immediately

This bill was submitted by /u/NicolasBroaddus on behalf of the 9th Opposition.

The voting period for this bill will end on May 10th, 10PM BST.

Vote Aye, Nay or Abstain. Comments with anything else will be deleted. Comments that are edited will be void and not counted.

If a member is voting by proxy, they must have gained permission from the speaker prior to this vote. If no permission was sought and granted, their vote will not be counted.