Second government member resigns over Trident
A second member of the government has resigned over the prime minister’s commitment to renewing Trident.
Ministerial aide Jim Devine is reportedly resigning from his position as a parliamentary private secretary at the Department of Health to vote against the government in Wednesday’s vote.
Mr Devine declined to comment on his reported resignation and will outline his motives before the House tomorrow.
He is the second member of the government to quit over Trident, following yesterday’s resignation from deputy leader of the house Nigel Griffiths.
It is further speculated that Hazel Blears’ parliamentary private secretary Stephen Pound could resign over the issue, while a growing number of Labour backbenchers are prepared to rebel against Trident.
Following Mr Griffith’s departure, Number Ten had said it was not aware of any other pending ministerial resignations.
A BBC poll found that nearly two-thirds of Labour backbenchers oppose the government’s plans to renew Trident, while 22 per cent plan to back the official policy.
The Liberal Democrats have also signalled they will vote against the government, but Tony Blair is likely to win a majority on the back of Conservative support.
The Lib Dems have also criticised the timing of the vote as premature. However, Mr Blair maintains that a vote is necessary now due to the long lead times, with a delay tantamount to a decision not to renew Trident.
To mark tomorrow’s debate, Greenpeace campaigners today scaled a crane next to the Houses of Parliament urging MPs to vote against renewing Trident.
One of the volunteers on the crane, Cat Dorey, said: “Trident is a cold war relic designed to destroy Russian cities. If MPs buckle under pressure from Tony Blair and vote to renew it, the repercussions will be felt around the world. We can’t oppose proliferation of WMD if we’re building them at home.”
