Home  Media Press Releases Trident CND calls for full Review of Trident
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CND calls for full Review of Trident |
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CND has today called for a full and open Review
of government plans to replace Trident, Britain's nuclear weapons system. There
is increasing disquiet amongst the population - and from politicians from all
parts of the political spectrum - at the prospect of spending in excess of £76
billion on a new system. This comes at a time of severe economic hardship and
budget cuts and many are questioning whether such expenditure can be justified
on a system which senior military figures have described as 'militarily
useless'.
Kate Hudson, Chair of CND, said:
'The government must now
seize the initiative and start a full and open ended review of the decision to
replace Trident. Its scope must include the option of scrapping it altogether.
Some are suggesting that like-for-like replacement is too expensive and
that Britain can go for a cheaper option. But we urge the government to pursue
full nuclear disarmament. Replacing Trident with other forms of nuclear weapons
will not deal with the problems of global proliferation that we ourselves are
contributing to by failing to disarm. There are positive moves afoot - not least
from President Obama - to bring about the global abolition of nuclear weapons.
Britain must contribute fully and wholeheartedly to that process by abolishing
its nuclear weapons entirely. We look to the Prime Minister to openly review the
possibility of such an initiative.'
The current schedule for Trident replacement includes a decision by
government - the Initial Gate - during Parliamentary recess this September. Over
160 MPs have now signed EDM 660 calling for a Parliamentary debate before this
decision is taken to proceed to the next stage in the replacement process. The
Foreign Affairs Committee also recommended a further Parliamentary debate in its
recent report on global security and non-proliferation. To date, the government
has resisted this option.
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