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Speaking at an event in Glasgow, she showed such convoys driving along roads alongside normal traffic and even spreading out on motorways. The convoys consist of some 20 vehicles that travel our roads day and night with no identification symbols despite each truck containing up to 8kg of plutonium.

The first three or four warhead carriers are each accompanied by an armed personnel carrier, two blue control vehicles, a fire engine and a variety of police vehicles. There were gasps of horror from the audience when Jane showed a photograph of a warhead carrier that had broken down in front of a house in Helensburgh.

Members of Nukewatch follow these convoys, inform the public and local authorities of their movements and campaign against them. Jane explained that there had been several collisions and other mishaps that Nukewatch knew about and suggested that the communities that the nukes pass through should have a say in this in this procedure.  
Rob Edwards, author of the Nukes of Hazard report, expanded on Jane’s account of the dangers the convoys.  They travel up to six times a year and make a round trip of 900 miles from the south of England to central Scotland. These trips are deemed necessary to maintain the UK Trident nuclear missile system. Despite the hundreds of communities and millions of people potentially affected by the nuclear convoys in the UK, most of us are unaware of the dangers.

An opinion poll commissioned by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons UK and conducted by YouGov, found that 58 per cent of adults were not aware that nuclear weapons were transported on British roads.

The MOD insists that the transports are safe, and sometimes conducts journeys as training exercises. Movements are kept to a minimum necessary to support Trident, according to the Ministry, and an accident leading to a leak of radioactivity is "highly unlikely". The MOD claims " there has never been an accident involving defence nuclear material in the UK that has led to, or come anywhere near leading to, the release of radioactive material to the environment.”

Whether true or not is a matter of trust and judgement. Whether it will remain true in the future is anyone's guess.

Rob Edwards’ report also dealt with the accidents and incidents that have plagued the bomb convoys over the years.  Convoys have crashed, broken down and got lost. Brakes have failed, fuel has leaked, and a range of other mechanical failures have been sustained. Bad luck, poor weather, human error and computer software glitches have all been to blame. Rob demanded more transparency from the MOD, although he said they are more willing to grant information now than they were 10 years ago.

Martha Wardrop emphasised the humanitarian crisis that would happen if there were a serious accident involving a convoy near Glasgow or East Dunbartonshire. An accident could spread deadly radioactive plutonium over a wide area and water would be also be contaminated. The population of these areas is oblivious to this danger.

Following Martha’s thought provoking information, Alison Thewliss MP told the audience that the nuclear convoy was not high on the agenda of the Westminster government despite MPs being aware of the situation. The jobs argument is used to justify Trident’s importance

Brian Quail claimed that trident is illegal, immoral and expensive. He stated there was an international movement to ban the use of nukes. The task now, he said, is to make people more aware of the convoys and the reality of the consequences of an accident en route.