Peace group welcomes government climb down over Trident

Peace Group members campaigning against Trident in Yorkshire Street in June 2010

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group has welcomed the news that the National Security Council will consider whether the country can afford the cost of Trident replacement at its next meeting.

Rae Street on behalf of the group said:"Although the government has previously said that the future of Britain's nuclear weapons system would not be included in the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

“The need to stop squandering money on Trident has clearly dominated the public's suggestions about ways to cut public expenditure and the government has, now, been forced to concede that this issue needs to be discussed.

“Senior military chiefs also argue that Trident is an outmoded Cold war weapon which has no role to play against current and foreseeable threats.

“It was always extraordinary for Liam Fox to refuse to include the Trident nuclear weapons system in the review while other massive cuts are being made in the Defence budget and in public spending more generally.

“Common sense seems to have prevailed for the moment and I trust that the coalition government will now begin to listen to public opinion.

“We need to scrap plans for upgrading these nuclear weapons of mass destruction and to begin decommissioning the whole costly and dangerous Trident system.

“We need our taxes to be spent on public services, not on the means for threatening death and destruction in the world.”