After being fired from a submarine and losing his security clearance, a nuclear submarine officer who opposes nuclear weapons on religious grounds is suing the Ministry of Defence for discrimination.
Just days after being posted aboard the Trident missile-armed submarine HMS Vanguard, Sub-Lieutenant Antonio Jardim informed his Royal Navy superiors that he opposed the employment of Britain’s nuclear deterrent owing to his Christian convictions.
The practising Christian testified before an employment tribunal that his fellow sailors dubbed him “Trigger” because of his dislike of the weapons after he voiced his concern.
He asserts that as a result, he was stripped of his security clearance, forbidden from serving aboard HMS Vanguard, and forced to work for a year on land in Portsmouth.
After retiring, he has now filed a lawsuit against the MoD, accusing them of discriminating against him because of his religion.
One of the most powerful ships the Royal Navy has ever constructed is the 15,900-ton, over 500-foot-long HMS Vanguard, which was built for around £3.75 billion.
The submarine, which is located at HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland, is the captain of a class of four ballistic missile-equipped submarines from the Trident nuclear deterrent programme that were constructed in the 1990s.
Mr. Jardim joined the Royal Navy in 2019 as a Weapons Engineering Officer, and in January 2020, he was deployed to HMS Vanguard for training, it was said during the Southampton hearing.
13 days later, he told Navy leaders that he was opposed to being directly engaged in the operational deployment of nuclear weapons.
After finishing his primary officer training and enlisting in the submarine service, according to a tribunal report, he was posted to HMS Vanguard for further training.
As part of the UK’s nuclear deterrent, nuclear missiles are carried on HMS Vanguard.
“Mr. Jardim’s position is that he is opposed to nuclear weapons because he is a Christian, and that when he voiced those views immediately after being appointed, he was kicked off the boat, had his security clearance revoked, and worked on shore for approximately a year before choosing to quit the Service.”
Mr. Jardim asserts that during his first Navy interview, “no issues relevant to nuclear weapons were posed.”
Additionally, he claims that owing to his dual citizenship, he was instructed “not to bother” about obtaining a special security clearance.
The tribunal report further said that “he was chosen for duty aboard [nuclear submarines] on January 24, 2020.” He informed the Royal Navy on February 6, 2020, that he was opposed to being directly engaged in the operational deployment of nuclear weapons owing to his Christian views.
Because of his hesitation to “draw the gun,” he “acquired the moniker Trigger among his contemporaries.”
After discussing his concerns with the course officer, Mr. Jardim claims that later in 2020, he was instructed to remain in his cabin after being dismissed from a Trident Officers General Course.
A “full interview” with “in-depth inquiries about my opinions, connections, and past” followed, according to him.
Then he claims that he was “told not to return to the boat” and that his name was recorded in the Quarter Master’s book with instructions to prevent admission.
According to Mr. Jardim, one of his clearances was stopped and his ID was taken away in November 2020.
He was unable to seek for another kind of clearance and had to wait months to get it reinstated.
As a rookie officer, Mr. Jardim continues, his career possibilities in the Navy were constrained when working on shore-based jobs.
‘After considering my choices and speaking with my current (superior officer), I decided I wanted to quit the military because of the treatment I experienced when I expressed my moral convictions,’ he told the tribunal.
“I feel that I have experienced a string of related instances of discrimination based on my religious views.”
“On March 18, 2021, I filed a request for voluntary withdrawal from training (VWFT) after giving it a lot of consideration and with considerable remorse.
Mr. Jardim was given the opportunity to revise his allegations during a preliminary employment tribunal hearing in Southampton today, and the matter was permitted to go forward to a further hearing in 2023 under the direction of Employment Judge Eoin Fowell.
According to the tribunal, Mr. Jardim’s November 2020 charges that he was denied access to the submarine, had his clearances taken away, and had his career hindered might go through to a full hearing.
However, it came to the conclusion that it lacks the authority to hear his prior allegations up to June 2020 and decided that they would only be used as “background.”
The tribunal stated that the complete case will look into whether forcing sailors to serve on nuclear submarines puts those who oppose nuclear weapons at danger of prejudice.
The claims are disputed by the Ministry of Defense.