Saturday 24 February 2007

Greens protest against Nuclear Weapons

Greens from Waltham Forest and Redbridge joined up to 100,000 people marching through Central London to Trafalgar Square to show their opposition to replacing our Trident nuclear deterrent. The rally in Trafalgar Square included a number of speakers from a wide range of backgrounds including Green MEP Caroline Lucas.

The government is about to spend as much as £75bn on replacing our so-called nuclear deterrent. The latest Trident costs, based on information extracted in parliamentary answers, suggest an overall figure of £76bn to buy missiles, replace nuclear submarines, and maintain the system for 30 years. The Greens believe this money could be much better spent on public services like health and education or to tackle climate change, the most pressing problem in the world today.

The UK will be in breach of the non-proliferation treaty if the Government renews our nuclear deterrent. At a time when the UK Government has condemned North Korea and Iran for attempting to gain nuclear weapons, it is hypocritical in the extreme for it to be acquiring new nuclear weapons.