Campaigners say ‘NHS not Trident’

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group members, Pauline Devlin, Pat Sanchez, Patricia Gilligan, Rae Street and Mai Bentley with their guest, Kate Hudson (General Secretary of CND UK) en-route to the demonstration at Littleborough railway station

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Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group joined tens of thousands of protesters in Manchester, yesterday afternoon (Sunday 29 September 2013) as the TUC told the Conservative Party conference to stop cuts and privatisation in the NHS.

Greater Manchester Police estimated that at least 50,000 people joined the protest.

Hundreds carried ‘NHS not Trident’ placards, while Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group members displayed the same message on their Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament T-shirts.

On behalf of the Peace Group, Philip Gilligan said: “In Rochdale and in Greater Manchester, throughout the North West and throughout the country, the government is cutting and privatising essential services.

"It claims that it has insufficient money to maintain the services we need for decent health, education and social care.

"But the government is still committed to spending £billions each year on maintaining the Trident nuclear missile system and to spending £billions more on its even more dangerous replacement.

"This is not what our country needs or wants. It is not what Rochdale needs or wants.

"The Peace Group will continue to press both the government and all our local MPs to commit themselves to policies that will ensure that the country stops wasting money on nuclear weapons and starts rebuilding the NHS service we need for our future.”