The Ferret

Government faces calls to investigate Faslane nuclear leak

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/government-faces-calls-investigate-faslane-nuclear-leak

Undated handout photo provided by the Ministry of Defence of vanguard class nuclear submarine HMS Vengeance in Gare Loch, after departing HM Naval Base Clyde in Faslane, Scotland, to go on sea trials

REVELATIONS of radioactive leaks from Trident’s base were branded “as shocking as they are unsurprising” today as the government faced calls to urgently investigate.

Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) documents obtained by The Ferret revealed that the watchdog was aware of the 2019 discharge of radioactive water from the home of Britain’s nuclear arsenal at Faslane and Coulport — just 30 miles from Glasgow, Scotland’s most populous city — into Loch Long, citing the cause as the Royal Navy’s failure to properly maintain a network of 1,500 pipes.

Scottish CND executive member David Kelly told the Star: “The failures in pipework at Coulport, and the subsequent release of nucleotides into Loch Long are as shocking as they are unsurprising.

“‘How cheaply can we run a nuclear arsenal’ seems to be the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) approach to this most deadly of facilities.  

“All mechanical components, as complex as a nuclear submarine, or as simple as a pipe, are designed for a specific life.

“At Scottish CND we make as much noise as we can about the four Vanguard class nuclear submarines which host the missiles we lease from America being well beyond their design life.

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/government-faces-calls-investigate-faslane-nuclear-leak

Continue ReadingGovernment faces calls to investigate Faslane nuclear leak

Protests planned as Scottish Parliament welcomes ‘profiteers of genocide’

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/protests-planned-scottish-parliament-welcomes-profiteers-genocide

People during a pro-Palestine march in Edinburgh, February 3, 2024

PALESTINE solidarity campaigners are planning a reception of their own as Holyrood prepares to welcome “profiteers of genocide.”

Despite the Scottish Parliament backing calls for an immediate ceasefire in the Israeli invasion of Gaza in November, and the International Court of Justice since ruling that there was a “plausible” case that genocide was being committed by Israeli forces, Holyrood is set to host weapons suppliers on February 21.

The reception for aerospace trade body the ADS Scotland Council, which includes firms such as Raytheon Systems — which controversially received £600,000 in Scottish government funding via Scottish Enterprise in 2021 — and drone manufacturer Thales, had been sponsored by Labour MSP Paul Sweeney.

After investigative journalist co-operative the Ferret exposed the reception, Mr Sweeney withdrew his sponsorship, but the corporate body that oversees the operation of the parliament building has taken the unusual step of allowing the event to go ahead without a parliamentary sponsor, adding to the fury felt by campaigners.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/protests-planned-scottish-parliament-welcomes-profiteers-genocide

Continue ReadingProtests planned as Scottish Parliament welcomes ‘profiteers of genocide’

COP26 News review day 8

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Obama implores world leaders to ‘step up now’ to avert climate disaster

Barack Obama has called on world leaders to “step up and step up now” to avert climate breakdown, singling out China and Russia for being foremost among countries that are failing to cut planet-heating emissions quickly enough.

Obama said that while progress has been made at the Glasgow climate talks, including significant pledges made by countries to reduce methane emissions and to end deforestation, “we are nowhere near where we need to be at” in cutting emissions and that “most nations have failed to be as ambitious as they need to be”.

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HSBC led big banks’ charge against climate change action

HSBC coordinated efforts to try and water down action on climate change in the banking sector by seeking to delay a key deadline and scrap mandatory science-based targets for a major net-zero alliance, the Bureau can reveal.

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Revealed: 1,000 fossil fuel and big business reps at COP26

Nearly 1,000 representatives from the fossil fuel industry, big business and nuclear power companies have registered to attend the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, according to an analysis by The Ferret.

They include executives from Shell, BP, Equinor, Chevron, Total, Gazprom and other major oil and gas companies, as well as multinational corporations such as McDonald’s, Bayer, Walmart, HSBC, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Microsoft.

There are also delegations from the coal industry, tobacco companies and pesticide manufacturers. Eleven people from two climate sceptic think-tanks have registered for the summit.

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Wera Hobhouse MP: Tory fossil fuel funding is delaying an end date for fossil fuels

‘As long as we have a Government dominated by vested interests, the UK will make no progress on climate action.’

Wera Hobhouse is the Liberal Democrats’ justice spokesperson and MP for Bath.

To reach net zero, we need an end date for the use of fossil fuels. Yet, the Government is taking us backwards on tackling climate change. Any wonder when they are bankrolled by fossil fuel interests and climate sceptics? As long as we have a Government dominated by vested interests, the UK will make no progress on climate action. 

Earlier this week, an investigation revealed that the Conservative party and its MPs received £1.3m in gifts and donations from climate sceptics and fossil fuel interests since the election in 2019. 

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How the UK Government is funnelling billions into fossil fuel projects abroad

While spinning itself as a ‘leader’ in fighting climate change, the UK is funnelling billions into climate wrecking fossil fuel projects overseas

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Continue ReadingCOP26 News review day 8