Fraud Charges against David Cameron and George Osborne over Trident

Fraud Charges pressed against David Cameron and George Osborne

at Reading Police Station 8th Feb 2014, as part of Action AWE report a crime initiative. 

Fraud Charge in relation to Trident

This charge of fraud is being pressed against the following:

David Cameron:

Ref: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5407714.stm - “There is a price for progress in tackling climate change”

George Osborne: 

Ref: http://www.green-alliance.org.uk/uploadedFiles/Events/George%20Osborne.pdf - “That's why we are working hard with many of you in this room to ensure our green tax measures are well targeted on the environmental goals we set out to achieve.”

Background

Runaway climate change now threatens all life on the planet. CO2 emissions are rising catastrophically and basic mathematical analysis shows that the critical level of 450 ppm will be exceeded between 2020 and 2030. At this point ocean circulation stops and the oceans become stagnant and die. Huge plumes of hydrogen sulfide will be emitted from the stagnant oceans into the atmosphere turning the sky green and poisoning what has not died through heat exhaustion. Arctic methane releases will run out of control adding to the catastrophic heating. We are thus at a near term extinction event. 

Government policy is to tackle carbon emissions through a combination of carbon trading and increased energy costs to fund low carbon technologies, which is too little and too late. 

However, in the light of the decision to proceed with Trident these investments and initiatives are rendered worthless as the industrial infrastructure that is needed to support the Trident program will negate the carbon savings from renewable power. Not only is Trident hugely carbon intensive to build, but it needs the support of a large surface warfare fleet and naval aviation arm, all of which add significantly to the already unacceptable carbon footprint of the UK. In addition, it is hugely expensive. It requires a large proportion of the economy to be kept running merely to raise the taxation for Trident. This also adds to the carbon foot print of Trident. 

We have already asked the Department of Climate Change (DECC) to provide a carbon budget for Trident in accordance with the low carbon transition plan  that was agreed by all parties in the last parliament. Despite our repeated requests they were unprepared to do so. Instead we received anunjustified statement that, “The Government believes that the operation of Trident and the combating of climate change are consistent with each other.”  This is without foundation and a deliberate attempt to decieve

We are also aware that the initial gate document justified the early spend for Trident on the basis that “We must retain the capability to design, build and support nuclear submarines and meet the commitment for a successor to the Vanguard Class submarines.” Thus we build Trident merely to keep building Trident and supporting the arms manufacturers such as BAE Systems. 

Basis of Charge

1. The proposition that climate change can be tackled by carbon trading and increases in utility bills while allowing Trident to go ahead causes financial loss to the entire population of this country and that loss is most acutely felt by those on lower income. Simultaneously, it allows financial gain by the largest conglomerates within the military industrial complex such as BAE Systems and Rolls Royce. This is in violation of Section 5 of the Fraud Act, where gain and loss is in money.

2. The proposition that carbon trading and and green taxes on utility bills, along with the hardships that these will entail, will lead to significant cuts in carbon emissions while allowing large political vanity projects such as Trident to proceed is a deliberate attempt to falsely represent the benefits of these programmes. As such it is in violation of all sub clauses of Section 2 of the Fraud Act, i.e. dishonestly making a false claim and intending to make a gain to another or loss to another. 

3. We note that the science behind climate change is now so serious that by the time the new generation of Trident submarines are midway through their operational lives much of civilisation will have collapsed, leaving the last survivors as the crews of the submarines. This should be disclosed by government, in particular by those senior member of cabinet that are advocating its replacement. Their silence on these matters violates section 3 of the Fraud Act, failure to disclose information. 

4. We contend that the pursuit of Trident and the silence on its climate change implications is an abuse of power as defined in Section 4 of the Fraud act. We note that the primary responsibility of government and elected officials is to preserve the security and safety of the population. As the decision to build Trident makes climate change agreements impossible due to the competition it reinforces and the industrial infrastructure that needs to be preserved, then the fundamental trust people have in government to preserve their security is violated and is thus an abuse of power. 

The arguments above, put David Cameron,s statement “There is a price for progress in tackling climate change” into perspective - his words mean there is a price for some, but others such as the key conglomerates of the military industrial complex will not only be spared the cost, but will be actively subsidised by the rest of the population. Likewise with George Osborne's championing of green taxes, while at the same time as supporting the funding of Trident is fraud on the electorate.