The Politics Thread 4

[Denster]

As a tory - I do miss the days when our Country could and did get away with these type of things.

Makes you proud to be English.

[KK]

What would happen if a 150kt bomb was dropped on London?



Estimates predict that there would be approximately 334,290 casualties as a result of the blast, along with 1,088,503 injuries. The results don't take into account the effects of nuclear fallout, nor the fact that the city is more heavily populated at certain times of day.

The innermost orange circle is the most severe, with a fireball radius of 450m. Within this area, a nuclear fireball would obliterate the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and a decent chunk of Whitehall. There would be no survivors. The green ring, with a radiation radius of 1km, represents the area within which we can expect a 50-90% mortality rate, and the blue ring, air blast radius 3.74km, represents the area within which the resulting pressure would cause most residential buildings to collapse, with widespread fatalities. The outermost ring, a thermal radiation radius of 5.26km, would still result in third degree burns causing severe scarring and disablement.

The UK's nuclear command chain dictates that if the sitting prime minister were to authorise a retaliatory nuclear strike, the order will go to the person below the prime minister on a dual-track basis (meaning two persons are required to authenticate at each stage of the process), until it eventually reaches our nuclear submarine fleet. The fleet will carry out a strike on the coordinates given, though they will not necessarily know what the target is.

A strike that completely wiped out Westminster and the prime minister means that there would have to be an alternative means of response. To cover for such an eventuality, every prime minister will have written a letter of last resort upon taking office, seen by their eyes only, and stored securely within the safes of each of the UK's four nuclear submarines. The letter instructs the submarine commander of what action to take should Her Majesty's Government be completely wiped out. Before following through with the orders, the commander will have to assess whether the government has fallen, by trying to make contact with Naval Command and infamously checking if BBC Radio 4 is still broadcasting. The aforementioned letters are destroyed unopened whenever a new prime minister takes office, and while nobody knows for sure what options have been tabled, there are thought to be four key responses: launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, don't launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, allow the commander to use their own judgement, or offer the fleet to the United States and Australian Navies.

Good to know.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

What would happen if a 150kt bomb was dropped on London?



Estimates predict that there would be approximately 334,290 casualties as a result of the blast, along with 1,088,503 injuries. The results don't take into account the effects of nuclear fallout, nor the fact that the city is more heavily populated at certain times of day.

The innermost orange circle is the most severe, with a fireball radius of 450m. Within this area, a nuclear fireball would obliterate the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and a decent chunk of Whitehall. There would be no survivors. The green ring, with a radiation radius of 1km, represents the area within which we can expect a 50-90% mortality rate, and the blue ring, air blast radius 3.74km, represents the area within which the resulting pressure would cause most residential buildings to collapse, with widespread fatalities. The outermost ring, a thermal radiation radius of 5.26km, would still result in third degree burns causing severe scarring and disablement.

The UK's nuclear command chain dictates that if the sitting prime minister were to authorise a retaliatory nuclear strike, the order will go to the person below the prime minister on a dual-track basis (meaning two persons are required to authenticate at each stage of the process), until it eventually reaches our nuclear submarine fleet. The fleet will carry out a strike on the coordinates given, though they will not necessarily know what the target is.

A strike that completely wiped out Westminster and the prime minister means that there would have to be an alternative means of response. To cover for such an eventuality, every prime minister will have written a letter of last resort upon taking office, seen by their eyes only, and stored securely within the safes of each of the UK's four nuclear submarines. The letter instructs the submarine commander of what action to take should Her Majesty's Government be completely wiped out. Before following through with the orders, the commander will have to assess whether the government has fallen, by trying to make contact with Naval Command and infamously checking if BBC Radio 4 is still broadcasting. The aforementioned letters are destroyed unopened whenever a new prime minister takes office, and while nobody knows for sure what options have been tabled, there are thought to be four key responses: launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, don't launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, allow the commander to use their own judgement, or offer the fleet to the United States and Australian Navies.

Good to know.

What’s interesting about the last bit is specifically the US and Australia. I thought one of the option was sail to an allied port. Personally if I was captain of a sub I would be going to Australia.

[Denster]

If Boris becomes PM - he'll probably put which four superpowers he'd want to gain from the radiation.

[Lex-Man]

What would happen if a 150kt bomb was dropped on London?



Estimates predict that there would be approximately 334,290 casualties as a result of the blast, along with 1,088,503 injuries. The results don't take into account the effects of nuclear fallout, nor the fact that the city is more heavily populated at certain times of day.

The innermost orange circle is the most severe, with a fireball radius of 450m. Within this area, a nuclear fireball would obliterate the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and a decent chunk of Whitehall. There would be no survivors. The green ring, with a radiation radius of 1km, represents the area within which we can expect a 50-90% mortality rate, and the blue ring, air blast radius 3.74km, represents the area within which the resulting pressure would cause most residential buildings to collapse, with widespread fatalities. The outermost ring, a thermal radiation radius of 5.26km, would still result in third degree burns causing severe scarring and disablement.

The UK's nuclear command chain dictates that if the sitting prime minister were to authorise a retaliatory nuclear strike, the order will go to the person below the prime minister on a dual-track basis (meaning two persons are required to authenticate at each stage of the process), until it eventually reaches our nuclear submarine fleet. The fleet will carry out a strike on the coordinates given, though they will not necessarily know what the target is.

A strike that completely wiped out Westminster and the prime minister means that there would have to be an alternative means of response. To cover for such an eventuality, every prime minister will have written a letter of last resort upon taking office, seen by their eyes only, and stored securely within the safes of each of the UK's four nuclear submarines. The letter instructs the submarine commander of what action to take should Her Majesty's Government be completely wiped out. Before following through with the orders, the commander will have to assess whether the government has fallen, by trying to make contact with Naval Command and infamously checking if BBC Radio 4 is still broadcasting. The aforementioned letters are destroyed unopened whenever a new prime minister takes office, and while nobody knows for sure what options have been tabled, there are thought to be four key responses: launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, don't launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, allow the commander to use their own judgement, or offer the fleet to the United States and Australian Navies.

Good to know.

What’s interesting about the last bit is specifically the US and Australia. I thought one of the option was sail to an allied port. Personally if I was captain of a sub I would be going to Australia.

What about Russia's super powerful nukes. I thought they had stuff that could totally destroy the UK?

[Lagamorph]

It's a shame those letters don't get archived for a few decades or so and then released publicly (Though I absolutely understand why they're destroyed sight unseen as soon as the Prime Minster steps down). I'd love to know what some of them said.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

What would happen if a 150kt bomb was dropped on London?



Estimates predict that there would be approximately 334,290 casualties as a result of the blast, along with 1,088,503 injuries. The results don't take into account the effects of nuclear fallout, nor the fact that the city is more heavily populated at certain times of day.

The innermost orange circle is the most severe, with a fireball radius of 450m. Within this area, a nuclear fireball would obliterate the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and a decent chunk of Whitehall. There would be no survivors. The green ring, with a radiation radius of 1km, represents the area within which we can expect a 50-90% mortality rate, and the blue ring, air blast radius 3.74km, represents the area within which the resulting pressure would cause most residential buildings to collapse, with widespread fatalities. The outermost ring, a thermal radiation radius of 5.26km, would still result in third degree burns causing severe scarring and disablement.

The UK's nuclear command chain dictates that if the sitting prime minister were to authorise a retaliatory nuclear strike, the order will go to the person below the prime minister on a dual-track basis (meaning two persons are required to authenticate at each stage of the process), until it eventually reaches our nuclear submarine fleet. The fleet will carry out a strike on the coordinates given, though they will not necessarily know what the target is.

A strike that completely wiped out Westminster and the prime minister means that there would have to be an alternative means of response. To cover for such an eventuality, every prime minister will have written a letter of last resort upon taking office, seen by their eyes only, and stored securely within the safes of each of the UK's four nuclear submarines. The letter instructs the submarine commander of what action to take should Her Majesty's Government be completely wiped out. Before following through with the orders, the commander will have to assess whether the government has fallen, by trying to make contact with Naval Command and infamously checking if BBC Radio 4 is still broadcasting. The aforementioned letters are destroyed unopened whenever a new prime minister takes office, and while nobody knows for sure what options have been tabled, there are thought to be four key responses: launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, don't launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, allow the commander to use their own judgement, or offer the fleet to the United States and Australian Navies.

Good to know.

What’s interesting about the last bit is specifically the US and Australia. I thought one of the option was sail to an allied port. Personally if I was captain of a sub I would be going to Australia.

What about Russia's super powerful nukes. I thought they had stuff that could totally destroy the UK?

Just a handful of their most powerful would render the whole of the uk uninhabitable. The one used in that illustration is tiny by comparison.

[Alvin Flummux]

What would happen if a 150kt bomb was dropped on London?



Estimates predict that there would be approximately 334,290 casualties as a result of the blast, along with 1,088,503 injuries. The results don't take into account the effects of nuclear fallout, nor the fact that the city is more heavily populated at certain times of day.

The innermost orange circle is the most severe, with a fireball radius of 450m. Within this area, a nuclear fireball would obliterate the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and a decent chunk of Whitehall. There would be no survivors. The green ring, with a radiation radius of 1km, represents the area within which we can expect a 50-90% mortality rate, and the blue ring, air blast radius 3.74km, represents the area within which the resulting pressure would cause most residential buildings to collapse, with widespread fatalities. The outermost ring, a thermal radiation radius of 5.26km, would still result in third degree burns causing severe scarring and disablement.

The UK's nuclear command chain dictates that if the sitting prime minister were to authorise a retaliatory nuclear strike, the order will go to the person below the prime minister on a dual-track basis (meaning two persons are required to authenticate at each stage of the process), until it eventually reaches our nuclear submarine fleet. The fleet will carry out a strike on the coordinates given, though they will not necessarily know what the target is.

A strike that completely wiped out Westminster and the prime minister means that there would have to be an alternative means of response. To cover for such an eventuality, every prime minister will have written a letter of last resort upon taking office, seen by their eyes only, and stored securely within the safes of each of the UK's four nuclear submarines. The letter instructs the submarine commander of what action to take should Her Majesty's Government be completely wiped out. Before following through with the orders, the commander will have to assess whether the government has fallen, by trying to make contact with Naval Command and infamously checking if BBC Radio 4 is still broadcasting. The aforementioned letters are destroyed unopened whenever a new prime minister takes office, and while nobody knows for sure what options have been tabled, there are thought to be four key responses: launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, don't launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, allow the commander to use their own judgement, or offer the fleet to the United States and Australian Navies.

Good to know.

What’s interesting about the last bit is specifically the US and Australia. I thought one of the option was sail to an allied port. Personally if I was captain of a sub I would be going to Australia.

What about Russia's super powerful nukes. I thought they had stuff that could totally destroy the UK?

Just a handful of their most powerful would render the whole of the uk uninhabitable. The one used in that illustration is tiny by comparison.

You know the Tsar Bomba was never put into mass production, right?

[Squinty]

This is all getting very reminiscent of Threads.

So bombing without parliamentary consent.

[Preezy]

So, nuclear war?

[Vermilion]

Four RAF Tornado jets were involved, though thanks to the cuts that was probably the maximum limit of our military capability anyways.

I still believe it was the wrong decision to launch these strikes though.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

Four RAF Tornado jets were involved, though thanks to the cuts that was probably the maximum limit of our military capability anyways.

I still believe it was the wrong decision to launch these strikes though.

Don't worry the Tornado fleet is due to be retired soon.

I'm very undecided about it. I think if we believe that Syria carried out the attacks and the facilities they used for the production and delivery of the weapons were all that was targeted then our strikes make sense however I am worried about the escalation of everything and Russia's involvement.

[Denster]

I think it was the right thing to do. Russia aren’t happy because for once their veiled threats have been ignored.

[Lex-Man]

What would happen if a 150kt bomb was dropped on London?



Estimates predict that there would be approximately 334,290 casualties as a result of the blast, along with 1,088,503 injuries. The results don't take into account the effects of nuclear fallout, nor the fact that the city is more heavily populated at certain times of day.

The innermost orange circle is the most severe, with a fireball radius of 450m. Within this area, a nuclear fireball would obliterate the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and a decent chunk of Whitehall. There would be no survivors. The green ring, with a radiation radius of 1km, represents the area within which we can expect a 50-90% mortality rate, and the blue ring, air blast radius 3.74km, represents the area within which the resulting pressure would cause most residential buildings to collapse, with widespread fatalities. The outermost ring, a thermal radiation radius of 5.26km, would still result in third degree burns causing severe scarring and disablement.

The UK's nuclear command chain dictates that if the sitting prime minister were to authorise a retaliatory nuclear strike, the order will go to the person below the prime minister on a dual-track basis (meaning two persons are required to authenticate at each stage of the process), until it eventually reaches our nuclear submarine fleet. The fleet will carry out a strike on the coordinates given, though they will not necessarily know what the target is.

A strike that completely wiped out Westminster and the prime minister means that there would have to be an alternative means of response. To cover for such an eventuality, every prime minister will have written a letter of last resort upon taking office, seen by their eyes only, and stored securely within the safes of each of the UK's four nuclear submarines. The letter instructs the submarine commander of what action to take should Her Majesty's Government be completely wiped out. Before following through with the orders, the commander will have to assess whether the government has fallen, by trying to make contact with Naval Command and infamously checking if BBC Radio 4 is still broadcasting. The aforementioned letters are destroyed unopened whenever a new prime minister takes office, and while nobody knows for sure what options have been tabled, there are thought to be four key responses: launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, don't launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, allow the commander to use their own judgement, or offer the fleet to the United States and Australian Navies.

Good to know.

What’s interesting about the last bit is specifically the US and Australia. I thought one of the option was sail to an allied port. Personally if I was captain of a sub I would be going to Australia.

What about Russia's super powerful nukes. I thought they had stuff that could totally destroy the UK?

Just a handful of their most powerful would render the whole of the uk uninhabitable. The one used in that illustration is tiny by comparison.

You know the Tsar Bomba was never put into mass production, right?

I wasn't talking about the Tsar they have a new system called Satan 2.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/1 ... out-uk-fr/

[jawafour]

This situation... strawberry-floatin' hell .

[<]:^D]

rip guys, was nice knowing you (well, most of you)

[Moggy]

twitter.com/dmreporter/status/985105667127234560

[Hypes]

I'd support an airstrike on Daily Mail readers

[That]

Just a handful of their most powerful would render the whole of the uk uninhabitable. The one used in that illustration is tiny by comparison.

If a 50 Mt nuclear bomb hit the centre of London, you'd have a completely uninhabitable zone out until Stratford. Then the regions out to the radius of Dartford would look a bit like Fallout 3. Finally, people who happened to be outside would suffer very bad burns from the blast of hot air until around Chatham. The worst of the fallout would be in a long thin cloud that might stretch to Bristol if we're unlucky. Folks on the Isle of Sheppey would be fine (or at least no worse-off than they started).

Fallout and blast burns would be avoidable for anyone lucky enough to be (& smart enough to stay) indoors. Realistically I think you're looking at a 5 mile radius of nuclear hellscape and a 15 mile radius of post-apoc horror, with a steady drop-off in fatalities up until about 40 miles, plus some fatalities from radiation sickness down-wind.

This would be a nightmare, millions would die on the day, and doubtless millions more in the chaos that followed. But it doesn't really make the UK uninhabitable. I think if that's your goal you'd need one for every city and large town in the country.

And remember, 50 Mt is the cutting edge in huge nukes. Most nukes are nowhere near that size.

[Meep]

One interesting thing I have observed about tabloid readers (I know a few at work) is that they don't actually seem to hold any opinions of their own. I mean, they might start out with apparently having an opinion, but if you talk about the subject for more than five minutes they eventually revert to a "it's hard to say", or "I'm not sure" when probed any finer details. It's like they don't feel confident enough to have a view on anything that has not been spoon fed to them, which is kind of sad. People should have more confidence in their own ability to make up their own minds. I think the media take advantage of their insecurities about their own intellect, when from personal experience if you actually engage with these same people they are quite capable of expressing doubts about the prevailing narrative that the previously suppressed for fear of looking stupid.