The government is replacing its current nuclear weapons system, Trident, at a cost of at least £205 billion. This money should be spent on jobs, homes, education and health; improving people’s lives, rather than threatening the lives of others.
In recent years, we have seen the deepest ever cuts in public spending. Spending on housing, health, education and welfare has been cut. Pay and pensions, public sector jobs, even support for people with disabilities have all been hit.
And yet, even within this context, the government is still committed to spending billions of pounds on new weapons of mass destruction, each bomb with the potential to kill millions of people. The use of a nuclear weapon would cause severe damage to the climate and environment on a scale incomparable to any other weapon. The Red Cross estimates that a billion people around the world could face starvation as a result of even a ‘small’ nuclear exchange.
People not Trident: read our full report
So what could £205 billion be spent on instead?
- Employ 150,000 new nurses and build 120 state of the art hospitals
- Guarantee NHS dental care for everyone
- Build three million affordable homes
- Cover tuition fees for 7.5 million undergraduates
- Build thousands of new primary schools
- Install solar panels in every home
- Build enough wind turbines to power all households in the UK
- Fund thousands of food banks
- Provide everyone in the world with access to water
The list is endless once the political decision is made not to spend on war and weapons, but on people instead.
So join CND as we campaign for a better and safer world!
What can you do to get involved?
- If you’re not already a member, join CND!
- Get in touch with your local CND group
- Attend one of our events, happening across the country
- Write to the Prime Minister, telling him to scrap nuclear weapons