Campaigners, old and new, say 'Stop Trident'

Nichola Shellard and Abigail Raby on the march

'Stop Trident' was the very clear message from the local campaigners who traveled by coach to London on Saturday (27 February 2016) to join the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament march and rally opposing plans to renew the Trident nuclear weapons system.

The campaigners set off at 7.00am to ensure that they were in Trafalgar Square to hear Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas and many others reject nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Long-time members and supporters of Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group were joined by many new and younger local campaigners.

Nichola Shellard and her daughter Abigail Raby, from Norden, were taking part in their first demonstration.

Nichola said: "Anyone who stops to think about it knows that Trident is a useless and dangerous waste of money and that nuclear weapons are an evil we need to get rid of, but too often we sit at home thinking there is nothing we can do about such things.

"Not today.

"The enormous turn-out proved that there are tens of thousands of ordinary people who are willing to get up early on a cold February morning to demonstrate against Britain having nuclear weapons of mass destruction which threaten all our futures with unimaginable levels of death and destruction.

"It also showed that we now have political leaders, like Jeremy Corbyn, who are genuinely committed to a peaceful and nuclear-free future.

"We need to support them wholeheartedly and to campaign actively for a future in which our country's resources are spent on what we need not on a useless and evil nuclear weapon's system.

"The march and rally was a really positive experience for us. We are more determined than ever to campaign to stop Trident."