WIRED MAGAZINE
SURVIVALIST THE GOVERNMENT In this exclusive series of features for Wired Magazine, Helen Vaudrey asks the question: If armageddon is truly an eventuality, how would we as a race survive? In this conclusive piece, we will explore the vast plans that governemnts around the world have in place in preperation for doomsday.
Lord Jack McConnell by Helen Vaudrey
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The year is 1942. Luftwaffe fleets are circling the foggy skies above London with stealthy determination while the shrill shriek of the civil defence siren pierces the air on the ground, instilling fear and grim resilience in the civilians down below. At the centre of this furore, deep under the stone slabs of Westminster, Churchill and his band of personnel prepare an ultimate plan of action in the Cabinet War Rooms amidst fears of a nuclear air strike from the Jerry’s: the continuity of government. Continuity of government is the principle of establishing defined procedures that allow a government to continue its essential operations in case of nuclear war or other catastrophic event. COG was developed by the British government during World War II to counter the threat of Luftwaffe bombing during the Battle of Britain. The need for continuity-of-government plans gained new urgency with nuclear proliferation. In recent years, the need for COG in the UK has intensified with increasing tensions between Russia and the United States and the ensuing advanced nuclear power capabilities. Although specific operations cannot be divulged for security reasons, some leaders are willing to speak out about the top secret operations, and what they will ultimately mean for the country. Lord Jack McConnell is the former Labour First Minister of Scotland. With the results of the recent general election showing a sweepstakes for the SNP in previous Labour heartlands, it’s likely he will also be the last red leader for Scotland for a very long time. McConnell reigned over Scotland from 2001-2007 until he was succeeded by arch rival Alex Salmond during the first years of Labours dramatic fall in popularity with the Scots people. I was invited to the Palace of Westminster by Lord McConnell to discuss his role in COG negotiations with the then Prime Minister Tony Blair – who assisted President Bush in orchestrating the 2003 Iraq war. As I’m ushered through two sets of security guarding the gates of Westminster I see Lord McConnell joking and laughing with a
fellow peer in the cloakroom as he awaits my arrival. We exchange a brief greeting and I am led down two imposing oak panelled corridors and into the most impressive room the palace has to offer: the Royal Gallery. A tapestry depicting the death of Napoleon dominates the left hand wall, several portraits of monarchs and their consorts hang opposite and four pairs of gilded stone statues of monarchs stand between the bay windows and double doors. “We’ll make do here,” says Jack as he gestures to two plush green armchairs towards the end of the room. I settle into my newfound grand surroundings as best I can and order earl grey tea from an obliging waiter. Jack, living up to his Scottish roots, opts for a whiskey on the rocks and fixes me with an inquisitive gaze that betrays a little of his guarded nature. “So, what can I help you with today, am I going to give you the keys to Mr Cameron’s panic room?” asks Jack with a deep booming laugh that reverberates off the grand walls in the room. My questions are designed to probe further than I know is actually possible, but from the snippets of information Lord McConnell relents in giving me, I can gage a sense of what measures the government ultimately has in place in the event of catastrophe, and am alarmed by how few people come into the continuity of government plan. “It’s called continuity of government for a reason. Unfortunately, in the event of disaster, only a few privileged people would survive a cull of humanity. It’s neither fair nor ideal, but the reason behind the plan is to maintain an element of order. We can’t cater for the masses, but we can put steps in place to maintain some kind of order in society should civilisation collapse or sunder.” “We have to take into respect the increasing global tensions in the world today. Global warming, North Korea’s ever threatening presence, the distancing of Russia from the EU, terrorism in all its hideous forms: it would foolish to bury ones head in the sand and pretend that tensions will ease over during time. Every powerful nation in the world has a continuity plan in place: although I
Example of Doomsday bunker via Getty Images
Government bunker in Berlin via Shutterstock
cannot divulge to you ours, rest assured it’s there.” I press him about his role in the Iraq war but McConnell plays his cards closer to his chest than the ice cold whiskey clenched in his right fist. “I wasn’t consulted much during the decision, but obviously the concern for my own people in light of a war was a priority of mine, no matter how far the actual fighting was away from home. Little did we know then that the consequences of that war would have so many dire implications to civilisations today. Whole regions captured under an ISIS regime, hordes of community’s being captured, converted or tortured on a daily basis and suicide bombing becoming the life time ambition of very misguided people of an increasingly younger age.” The second whiskey doesn’t do much to loosen Jack’s tongue, but he does give some insight into the underworld operations in progress: and they are quite literally underground. “The bunkers are obviously the nucleus to any governmental plan for continuity. I’m sure you’ve done your research and found the locations of the abandoned bunkers from World War II, most have been decommissioned because they were found out. But rest assured: some have not! In event of a state of an emergency, they are the first protocol.” Over thirty bunkers have been discovered in the UK since the end of WWII varying in size and capability. Some still contain abandoned telephones and maps, most are completely abandoned: empty voids containing only the merest snippets of a time when desperation and determination gripped the hearts of the men and women who dwelled there during Britain’s darkest days. Anne McVey is an environmentalist specialist who has researched into civilian safety and evacuation after her constituency suffered severe flooding in 2013 – although on a much smaller scale, she has always been fascinated with would could have been if the risk factor had been much higher. “We forget that not long ago two great wars ravaged our country and threatened life as we know it. What’s to stop something catastrophic happening again? We live in uncertain times and I’ve seen first-hand the panic and disarray that comes over people when faced with the smallest scale of disruption. Conducting a mass evacuation in this country is something I still find unimaginable, but it’s something that the Americans have been plotting for generations.” “The Raven Rock Mountain complex in Pennsylvania was built to house 3000 civilians in case of attack, the Cheyenne Mountain complex in Colorado could house almost quadruple that number and Iron Mountain in Massachusetts is practically an underground fortress. I’m not saying that a tiny island like the UK could possibly build complexes such as those for mass evacuation, but I believe that more can be done by the government to prepare for disaster. The protection of a mass number of civilians under nuclear attack is of greater priority than a few select few in the corridors of power. It doesn’t have to be that way if the government would just think seriously about the future of our planet, in terms of conflict and extreme global warming, and stop fussing over inconsequential issues at present. I’m talking about a very grim reality, but we’ve got to face it.” I half expect to see Ms McVey tear off her prim and proper blouse in a Hulk-like action to reveal a red anarchist tee shirt beneath - but thankfully she does not. She’s as down to earth as one can expect from a middle-class woman who keeps a chicken coup in her back yard and a collection of Laura Ashley catalogues on the dining room table. So much for stereotypes. Although the opposing sentiments expressed by Lord McConnelland Anne McVey may seem worlds apart from where we are now, it is worth acknowledging that only fifty years ago, both the
USA and Russia were testing their nuclear missile capabilities within range of each other and the world seemed on the very brink of extermination. Although governments have safety measures in place in case of danger or threat, it is the governments themselves who have the power to use such terrifying powers. Lord McConnell’s jibe at David Cameron’s panic button may have been made in good jest, but in actuality the reality is no laughing matter. One push, that’s all it takes, one push of a button from one solitary misguided man or woman around the globe isolated and alone in an office - and they have the power in the tip of their finger to destroy everything humans took centuries to build.
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