Milnrow backs nurses not nukes

George Abendstern and Philip Gilliganwith their leaflets in Milnrow

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group returned to Milnrow shopping precinct on Saturday 2 June and found plenty of support for their view that that MP, Phil Woolas was wrong to support government plans to spend tens of £billions on upgrading the Trident nuclear weapons system.

The Peace Group invited Milnrow’s shoppers to put coins symbolising their taxes into jars representing either spending on nuclear weapons or a jar representing spending on nurses. After two hours the ‘Nurses’ jar was very full, but the ‘Nukes’ jar had attracted no coins whatsoever. 

“This is the pattern we are finding all over Rochdale borough”, said Philip Gilligan on behalf of the Peace Group. “Given a free choice about whether their taxes should be spent on health, education and social services or squandered on dangerous weapons of mass destruction, an overwhelming majority of people are very clear that they want their money spent on saving and improving lives and not on the weapons of mass destruction favoured by warmongers such as Phil Woolas. In Milnrow, they are horrified that their MP voted for the upgrading of Trident nuclear weapons system on 14 March, just as they are that he still supports the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq in 2003. They are, also, all too aware of the threats to Rochdale’s health services which seem to increase every week.”, he added.

The Peace Group distributed leaflets which reminded readers that Rochdale’s share of the estimated cost of Trident replacement amounts to a staggering £261,000,000; about twelve times the health trust’s deficit. They again thanked Paul Rowen MP and Jim Dobbin MP for voting against the government’s plans to upgrade nuclear weapons. At the same time, they branded Milnrow MP, Phil Woolas, a "warmonger" and called for his replacement with “a new MP who will vote for peace and disarmament.”