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"This is a reckless directive from Trump that will only make the country and the world less safe and lead to a terrible new nuclear arms race," Markey said.
President Donald Trump's surprise order to resume nuclear weapons testing has set off concerns about a potential global arms race, but one Democratic senator is working to stop it from happening.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Thursday introduced emergency legislation to prevent the president from resuming nuclear weapons tests, which experts have warned could undermine global geopolitical stability as more nations could respond by ramping up weapons tests of their own.
The text of Markey's bill is just two pages and it states that "none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2026, or authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for any fiscal year before fiscal year 2026, and available for obligation as of the date of the enactment of this act, may be obligated or expended to conduct or make preparations for any explosive nuclear weapons test that produces any yield."
In a statement promoting the bill, Markey warned that restarting nuclear weapons tests would be "a mistake of radioactive proportions," which Congress should intervene to block.
"The United States has not conducted a nuclear test since 1992, and there is absolutely no need to resume," Markey said. "A Trumpatomics plan would provoke Russia and China to resume nuclear testing, and China in particular has much more to gain from this than does the United States. This is a reckless directive from Trump that will only make the country and the world less safe and lead to a terrible new nuclear arms race."
Markey, who co-chairs the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, also urged the US Senate to finally ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which was first adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1996 and which has been ratified by 178 other nations.
The UK-based Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) on Thursday put out a statement condemning Trump's weapons testing announcement, which it described as "a wake-up call that the threat of nuclear war is real and accelerating."
The organization also pointed out that resuming nuclear tests was not the only way that the US under the leadership of both Trump and former President Joe Biden is increasing the risks of nuclear war. Among other things, CND pointed to risks posed by the "Golden Dome" missile shield being pushed by Trump, as well as the AUKUS Agreement signed during Biden's tenure that gives Australia access to nuclear-powered submarines.
CND general secretary Sophie Bol warned of the dire consequences of a global nuclear arms race and said "it is absolutely critical that we rachet up the political pressure to make these world leaders—including the British government—step back from this nuclear escalation."
In an editorial published by Common Dreams on Thursday, Pavel Devyatkin, nonresident fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, argued that the resumption of nuclear weapons tests "marks a dangerous turning point in international security."
In particular, Devyatkin argued that resuming such tests would imperil chances of extending the nuclear arms treaty between the US and Russia that has been in effect since 2011.
"The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the last agreement limiting US and Russian nuclear weapons, expires in February 2026," he explained. "For over a decade, New START has kept a cap on deployed warheads and compelled both sides to transparency through data exchanges and inspections. If this agreement expires, there would be no binding limits on the two countries’ nuclear arsenals."
"U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer admitted this week that the situation in Gaza is 'getting worse by the day' but has yet to match these words with concrete actions."
Thousands of people formed a "Red Line for Palestine" encircling the U.K. Parliament in Westminster on Wednesday to demand an arms embargo and sanctions on Israel for its ongoing genocidal violence against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The protesters are also calling for the reinstatement of U.K. aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the government's support for International Criminal Court investigations, and an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza, according to a statement from organizers.
The red line protest during Parliament's "question time" was organized by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Muslim Association of Britain, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Stop the War Coalition.
"The U.S.-backed aid distribution in Gaza has shut down operations today, citing 'security risks,'" organizers noted. "This follows widespread criticism over its ties to Israel and alleged downplaying of civilian casualties. Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer admitted this week that the situation in Gaza is 'getting worse by the day' but has yet to match these words with concrete actions."
While people in the streets took aim at Starmer and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who are both part of the Labour Party, some members of Parliament joined the protest.
Scottish MP Brian Leishman, a member of Labour's Socialist Campaign Group, said on social media that he was "proud to stand with fellow MPs and the thousands of people that joined the Red Line for Palestine protest outside Parliament today calling for an end to genocide and for countries to stop arming Israel."
MP Colum Eastwood, former leader of Northern Ireland's Social Democratic and Labour Party, similarly said that he was "proud" to join the protest, while MP Zack Polansky, a candidate to lead the Green Party, said he was "proud to stand with so many fellow Jewish people against the genocide."
Party MP Ellie Chowns described her experience participating in the demonstration as "incredibly moving and powerful," while Independent MP Shockat Adam declared: "Starving children is a red line. Genocide is a red line. When humanity is on the line, silence cannot be the response."
Independent MP Adnan Hussain said he was "honored to have joined" the action and shared footage in which he appeared with MP Jeremy Corbyn, a fellow Independent who used to be Labour's leader. In the Sky News clip, Corbyn talked about the bill he's introducing to demand an independent public inquiry into the U.K.'s "complicity with active genocide" in Gaza.
"Many of us remain disgusted by the continued supply of components for the F-35 fighter jet program," Corbyn told The New Arab. "I am shocked the government openly admits to making 'exceptions' to its partial suspension. Does this breach its legal obligations to prevent genocide? One thing is clear: This government still supplies weapons to a state whose leader is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity."
The Hague-based tribunal in November issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and a Hamas leader who has since been declared dead. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its annihilation of Gaza.
Polling shows Israel's destruction of Gaza is unpopular with the British public. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign not only was an organizer of Wednesday's protest but also commissioned a poll from Opinium Research and released the results on Wednesday. The survey, conducted from May 30 to June 2, found that 57% of Brits believe the U.K. should impose a full arms embargo.
The survey also found that 54% support sanctioning Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, 53% think Israel should be expelled from the U.N., and 50% support boycotting Israeli products in supermarkets. Middle East Eye reported that "the new poll comes after a similar survey showed public support for Israel in European countries had fallen to its lowest recorded level."
The polling also comes as the official casualty counts in Gaza—which experts warn are likely significant underestimates—climbed to 54,607 Palestinians killed and 125,341 wounded, with most of the enclave's more than 2 million struggling to access food, water, shelter, and healthcare in the face of Israel's bombings and blockade of humanitarian aid.
U.K. organizers plan to follow Wednesday's red line action with a National March for Palestine on Saturday, June 21.
"Israel's attacks on Gaza and the West Bank are intensifying. Their starvation policy continues," says the march's webpage. "The U.K. government has at last accepted that Israel's actions are unconscionable. Now they must act—words are not enough."
The U.S. is reportedly planning to deploy nukes "three times the strength of the Hiroshima bomb" to an air base in Suffolk.
Nuclear weapon abolitionists sounded alarm Friday in response to fresh evidence that the United States is planning to station nukes in the United Kingdom for the first time in more than 15 years, a move that opponents said would only heighten the risk of an atomic war.
The U.S. removed more than 100 nuclear bombs from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, a base in Suffolk, in 2008 following sustained protests from the U.K.-based Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and other nonproliferation advocates.
CND warned in a statement Friday that the redeployment of nukes to Lakenheath would "make Britain a guaranteed target in the event of any war between NATO and Russia."
"We encourage both the media and the public to increase pressure on the British government to be honest about this deployment," said Kate Hudson, CND's general secretary.
"It's shameful that our government continues to take us for fools on this serious matter."
The Telegraph reported last week that "procurement contracts for a new facility at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk confirm that the U.S. intends to place nuclear warheads three times the strength of the Hiroshima bomb at the air base."
"The return of American weapons to the U.K. is part of a NATO-wide program to develop and upgrade nuclear sites in response to heightened tensions with the Kremlin in the wake of the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine," the U.K. newspaper continued. "Russia has stated that the placement of U.S. weapons in Britain would be viewed by Moscow as an 'escalation' and would be met with 'compensating counter-measures.'"
CND said Friday it has "strongly suspected" that the Lakenheath base was being prepped for the return of U.S. nukes for nearly two years. Last August, Matt Korda and Hans Kristensen of the Nuclear Information Project highlighted U.S. Air Force budget documents for fiscal year 2024 that "strongly imply" the Biden administration is moving toward reestablishing American nuclear presence in the U.K.
As the pair explained:
The Air Force's FY 2024 budgetary justification package, dated March 2023, notes the planned construction of a "surety dormitory" at RAF Lakenheath, approximately 100 kilometers northeast of London. The "surety dormitory" was also briefly mentioned in the Department of Defense's testimony to Congress in March 2023, but with no accompanying explanation. "Surety" is a term commonly used within the Department of Defense and Department of Energy to refer to the capability to keep nuclear weapons safe, secure, and under positive control...
Construction of the facility is scheduled to begin in June 2024 and end in February 2026.
CND said it has questioned the U.K.'s Defense Ministry and local officials about the "lawfulness of the planning rights used to allow the building of the surety dormitory."
"The Lakenheath upgrades form part of a wider effort to upgrade U.S./NATO nuclear infrastructure across Europe, which has preceded—and likely provoked—Russia's deployment of its own nuclear weapons to Belarus," the group said. "Despite this, neither the U.S. nor U.K. government have given information to the public about this deployment."
Hudson argued that "far from making us safer, this deployment has escalated the dangers, brought Russian nukes to Europe, and made us a nuclear target."
"It's shameful that our government continues to take us for fools on this serious matter," said Hudson. "They are refusing to give us crucial information about our security."
"It will send a powerful message not just to the Israelis but to the Western powers who are backing them that the public say, 'Not in our name.'"
Millions of people are expected to take to the streets worldwide on Saturday to demand a permanent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and denounce the U.S.-led bombing of Yemen, which pushed the Middle East even closer to a full-scale regional war.
Organizers said people in over 120 cities across 45 countries are planning to join the Gaza Global Day of Action, a mass demonstration that will begin days after South Africa presented evidence before the International Court of Justice that Israel is committing genocide in the Palestinian enclave.
"This global day of action, from Australia through to Asia, Europe, and the Americas, is the first coordinated, international movement against the war being waged by Israel on the Palestinian people," said Kate Hudson, general secretary of the U.K.-based Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. "It will send a powerful message not just to the Israelis but to the Western powers who are backing them that the public say, 'Not in our name.'"
Major protests are expected in New York City, Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Cairo, Istanbul, Tokyo, and scores of other cities and towns.
Israeli forces have killed more than 23,000 people—including over 10,000 children—in Gaza in just over three months, devastated the territory's infrastructure, and sparked a horrifying humanitarian crisis. Much of Gaza's population is displaced, starving, and at growing risk of disease.
Hudson said Friday that in the face of such a catastrophe, "everyone with a conscience" should "join the millions of voices from around the world in demanding an end to endless war."
"Your participation will amplify the call for justice for innocent Palestinians and every citizen of every country targeted by the missiles of Israel and the West," said Hudson. "It will make it clear to those countries that they do not have their citizens' support for their actions."
"Saturday is going to be a very important day for the anti-war movement," she added. "So let's unite, make a difference, and show that together, we can create waves of change that echo globally. Let's paint a picture of hope, unity, and lasting change."
The Biden administration has insisted it hopes to prevent Israel's assault on Gaza—which the U.S. has backed from the start with weaponry and diplomatic support—from spreading across the region, but it has launched airstrikes in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen since October 7, targeting Iran-aligned militia groups and heightening the risk of a broader war.
The growing number of Biden administration and congressional staffers who support a cease-fire are expected to speak at a rally in Washington, D.C. on Saturday.
In a statement late Thursday announcing the Yemen airstrikes—which many U.S. lawmakers slammed as unconstitutional—President Joe Biden said he "will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary," signaling that additional attacks on Yemen are on the table.
"Instead of working to end Israel's massacre of Palestinians, the Biden administration is choosing war and further destruction," IfNotNow, a Jewish American advocacy group, said Friday in response to the U.S. strikes in Yemen. "There is no military solution. We need a lasting cease-fire NOW."
Ismail Patel, visiting research fellow at the University of Leeds, wrote in an op-ed for Middle East Eye last week that plans for Saturday's global demonstrations were inspired in part by the inability of international institutions such as the United Nations to act as Israel and its Western allies operate with impunity on the world stage.
"A global day of protest thus serves as a powerful tool for exposing this unfair and ineffective order," Patel argued. "It further sheds light on how the U.S. and U.K. governments hold justice hostage and the world at ransom as they continuously shield Israel from accountability."
"Like in Iraq, the addition of depleted uranium ammunition into this conflict will only increase the long-term suffering of the civilians caught up in this conflict," said one peace campaigner.
Dismissing a warning from Russia that it would regard the deployment of Western depleted uranium munitions in Ukraine as an act of nuclear war, a top British defense official said Monday that the United Kingdom will send DU armor-piercing tank rounds to Ukrainian homeland defenders—a move condemned by peace campaigners in the U.K. and beyond.
Responding to a written question from Raymond Jolliffe, 5th Baron Hylton, a hereditary peer in the House of Lords, about "whether any of the ammunition currently being supplied to Ukraine contains depleted uranium," Minister of State at the Ministry of Defense Lord Annabel MacNicoll Goldie said that "alongside our granting of a squadron of Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, we will be providing ammunition including armor-piercing rounds which contain depleted uranium. Such rounds are highly effective in defeating modern tanks and armored vehicles."
In addition to the British tanks, U.S. Bradley Fighting Vehicles, as well as German Leopard 2 tanks can fire DU rounds—although American officials have not said whether such munitions would be included as part of military aid to Ukrainian forces fighting a yearlong Russian invasion.
Fired from tanks, aircraft, and field artillery, DU rounds—which are extremely dense—are ideal for piercing hardened armor. However, the exploding shells produce radioactive dust that contaminates soil, water, and air for many years. U.S. Army training manuals warn that DU contamination "will make food and water unsafe for consumption" and requires soldiers to wear protective clothing when in or near contaminated areas.
U.S. and allied forces fired DU munitions during the 1991 and 2003-11 invasions of Iraq, and in Syria during the campaign against Islamic State. Miscarriages, birth defects, and cancers soared in Iraq after both wars. According to one study, more than half of the babies born in Fallujah between 2007 and 2010 had birth defects. Among pregnant women in the study, over 45% experienced miscarriages in the two-year period following the battles for Fallujah. Geiger counter measurements of DU-contaminated sites in Iraqi cities have consistently shown radiation levels 1,000 to 1,900 times greater than normal.
"Like in Iraq, the addition of depleted uranium ammunition into this conflict will only increase the long-term suffering of the civilians caught up in this conflict," Kate Hudson, general secretary of the U.K.-based Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), said in a statement. "DU shells have already been implicated in thousands of unnecessary deaths from cancer and other serious illnesses."
"CND has repeatedly called for the U.K. government to place an immediate moratorium on the use of depleted uranium weapons and to fund long-term studies into their health and environmental impacts," Hudson added. "Sending them into yet another war zone will not help the people of Ukraine."
In January, Konstantin Gavrilov, head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control, cautioned NATO countries against giving Ukrainian forces DU shells, warning that "if Kyiv were to be supplied with such munitions for the use in Western heavy military hardware, we would regard it as the use of 'dirty nuclear bombs' against Russia, with all the consequences that entails."
"Another step has been taken, and there are fewer and fewer left."
Asked if the U.K.'s move brought the world closer to nuclear war, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told reporters Tuesday that "another step has been taken, and there are fewer and fewer left."
Responding to Goldie's announcement, Russian President Vladimir Putin—who last week was hit with an International Criminal Court war crimes arrest warrant—said Tuesday that "if all this happens, Russia will have to respond accordingly, given that the West collectively is already beginning to use weapons with a nuclear component."
On Telegram Tuesday, Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, decried what she called a "Yugoslav scenario," a reference to NATO's use of DU rounds during the 1999 air war in Serbia and Kosovo, which many believe caused a surge in leukemia in the region—both among the local population and foreign troops deployed there.
Zakharova added that "it is naive to believe that only those against whom all this will be used will become victims. In Yugoslavia, NATO soldiers, in particular the Italians, were the first to suffer. Then they tried for a long time to get compensation from NATO for lost health. But their claims were denied."
Numerous researchers and veterans groups believe DU may be the cause of the mysterious Gulf War Syndrome afflicting hundreds of thousands of U.S. and coalition troops, although in 2021 the Pentagon concluded there is "no link" between the illness and DU.
"CND has repeatedly called for the U.K. government to place an immediate moratorium on the use of depleted uranium weapons and to fund long-term studies into their health and environmental impacts."
Peace groups have long campaigned for a ban on DU munitions. The United Nations General Assembly last year approved an Indonesian draft resolution expressing concerns about "the health risks and environmental impact" of DU weapons and calling for a "cautionary approach" to their use. The vote was 147-4, with the U.S., U.K., France, and Israel dissenting and 24 nations abstaining.
As geopolitical tensions escalate in the Middle East and the world teeters on the brink of a new Cold War, it's clear that the only way to eliminate the threat of nuclear warfare is for governments to fulfill their long-held commitment to the "general and complete disarmament" of nuclear weapons - permanently. A bold and essential step towards this crucial goal is to decommission Trident, the UK's ineffective, unusable, and costly nuclear deterrent submarines. Renewing Trident would not only undermine international disarmament efforts for years to come, it will reinforce the hazardous belief that maintaining a functional nuclear arsenal is essential for any nation seeking to wield power on the world stage.
Needless to say, modern nuclear bombs are many times more destructive than those dropped on Japan at the end of the Second World War and would result in a host of immeasurably devastating impacts on the natural world and human life if they were deployed today. The extent to which nuclear weapons currently proliferate around the globe is, therefore, alarming and underscores the need for radical action on this critical issue. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, nine countries (the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea) possess a total of 16,000 nuclear weapons, of which 4,300 are deployed with operational forces and 1,800 are "kept in a state of high operational alert" - which means they can be launched within a 5 to 15-minute timeframe if necessary.
However, these figures don't tell the full story. According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, five other European nations host US nuclear weapons on their territory as part of a NATO agreement, and 23 additional countries rely on US nuclear capabilities for their national security. Furthermore, the spread of nuclear technology and the illicit trade in nuclear weapons means that any state can potentially develop or purchase nuclear-grade weapons, which confirms the widely held view that a number of other nations unofficially harbor nuclear warheads, and many more could do so in the years ahead.
The abundance of nuclear weapons and related technology highlights the weakness of the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, which has only made limited progress on nuclear disarmament since its inception in 1968 despite near-universal membership. With high levels of nuclear stockpiles still in existence, there is also a very real risk of unintended but deadly consequences. According to a report by The Royal Institute of International Affairs, there have been 13 instances of nuclear bombs being 'accidently' deployed since 1962 by Russia, the US and other countries - mainly due to technical malfunctions or breakdowns in communication. As international disarmament efforts diminish, such risks are set to increase alongside the growing likelihood of targeted terrorist attacks on existing nuclear facilities.
It's clear that Trident, like every other nuclear weapons system, is a relic of a bygone age that simply cannot guarantee the safety of any nation at a time when global terrorism and climate change pose a far more urgent threat to national security than other states with nuclear weapons. As the columnist Simon Jenkins puts it, "All declared threats to Britain tend to come either from powers with no conceivable designs on conquering Britain or from forces immune to deterrence." Indeed, most countries of the world (including 25 NATO states) don't maintain their own nuclear stockpiles, and yet they have been just as successful in 'deterring' nuclear war as the UK.
Moreover, the International Court of Justice has ruled that the threat or use of nuclear weapons would be contrary to the rules of international law, which means that their use would be illegal in virtually any situation. Given that it is close to unimaginable that a so-called world leader would ever deploy nuclear weapons (on ethical and legal grounds, as well as for fear of retaliatory consequences) their value as an effective deterrent is unjustifiable and deeply flawed. The farcical arguments employed to rationalize building and maintaining such weapon systems are amusingly summarised in a Yes, Prime Minister comedy sketch from 1986, which aired soon after Margret Thatcher first inaugurated the Trident missile system in the UK:
Sir Humphrey: With Trident we could obliterate the whole of eastern Europe.
Hacker: I don't want to obliterate the whole of eastern Europe.
Sir Humphrey: But it's a deterrent.
Hacker: It's a bluff. I probably wouldn't use it.
Sir Humphrey: Yes, but they don't know that you probably wouldn't.
Hacker: They probably do.
Sir Humphrey: Yes, they probably know that you probably wouldn't. But they can't certainly know.
Hacker: They probably certainly know that I probably wouldn't.
Sir Humphrey: Yes, but even though they probably certainly know that you probably wouldn't, they don't certainly know that, although you probably wouldn't, there is no probability that you certainly would.
Given that the nine nuclear-armed governments together spend an astounding $100bn a year on nuclear forces (mainly via private corporations), those who play a significant role in sustaining this appalling industry are also likely to be profiting handsomely from it. In the UK, for example, strong support for renewing Trident comes from the lucrative and influential defense industry as well as the many banks, insurance companies, pension funds, and asset managers that invest heavily in companies producing nuclear weapon systems. According to some calculations, 15 percent of members in the UK's House of Lords "have what can be deemed as 'vested interests' in either the corporations involved in the programme or the institutions that finance them".
In both moral and economic terms, spending such vast amounts of public money on producing these weapons of mass destruction is tantamount to theft as long as austerity-driven governments profess to lack the funding needed to safeguard basic human needs and ensure that all people have sufficient access to essential public services. While estimates for the cost of renewing Trident vary considerably, it is likely that the initial outlay will be in the region of PS30-40bn ($42-56bn), although this figure could rise to as much as PS167bn ($234bn) over the course of its lifetime.
Rather than wasting these vast sums on the inhumane machinery of warfare, some of it could be used to provide emergency assistance to desperate refugees and asylum seekers that the Tory government has shamefully neglected, or to shore up overseas aid budgets that are being syphoned away to cover domestic refugee-related expenses. As the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) calculate, if PS100bn ($140bn) from the Trident budget was spent bolstering vital public services instead, it would be enough to "fully fund A&E services for 40 years, employ 150,000 new nurses, build 1.5 million affordable homes, build 30,000 new primary schools, or cover tuition fees for 4 million students."
In light of the pressing need to decommission nuclear stockpiles and redistribute public resources in a way that truly serves the (global) common good, the upcoming vote in the UK Parliament on renewing Trident presents an important opportunity for campaigners and concerned citizens to raise our voice for a just and peaceful future. Many thousands of protesters are expected to unite on the streets of London this Saturday 27th February in a joint demand to end the UK's Trident program and share public resources more equitably. As CND point out in their scrap trident campaign, it's high time the UK government complies with its obligation under international law to eliminate our nuclear arsenal: "By doing so we would send a message to the world that spending for peace and development and meeting people's real needs is our priority, not spending on weapons of mass destruction."