Trident Whistleblower Needs to Be Listened to Even If He is Exaggerating

What does it take for a 25 year-old able seaman, as he himself put it, to sacrifice everything – “a good career, a chance to be a millionaire by selling the information, my life savings, my freedom, quality time with family and friends, possibly my life?”
We may soon find out if, that is, the Ministry of Defence and police do not simply treat William McNeilly, a crew of one of Britain’s Trident ballistic missile submarines, simply as an irresponsible young man motivated only by personal grievances. In an 18-page memo posted on the internet, titled The Secret Nuclear Threat, McNeilly alleges a catalogue of safety and security problems, which, he says, amount to a “disaster waiting to happen”. There has been a growing number of safety and security problems in Britain’s ageing Trident fleet, including those involving the submarines’ nuclear reactors. McNeilly’s account seems to reflect an accompanying complacency about safety and security procedures.