Anti-nuclear campaigners have condemned Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith’s announcement that Labour will not review its Trident policy before the general election.
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said:
“This is a very poor and irresponsible decision for Britain’s future security.
“In refusing to revisit its Trident policy, the Labour Party has missed a huge opportunity to set out a defence policy fit for the 21st century.
“Labour hasn’t debated Trident for twenty years but it insists on clinging to its old policy in spite of the fact that the majority of Labour members oppose Trident and the party leader has been elected twice with a strong anti-Trident position.
“Serious questions must be raised about why this course of action has been taken. Labour has actually put a substantial amount of work into its Defence Review – which includes Trident – over the past year, with enormous democratic participation in the process. Yet this has not seen the light of day.
“So why has Labour’s Defence Review been buried? The Trident issue won’t go away. In the coming years more than £205 billion will be spent on out-of-date nuclear weapons technology that won’t address the security threats we face, and will leave Britain vulnerable to attack.
“This is too important an issue for the future security of our country for it to be sidelined for political reasons. Unless the Labour Party is prepared to be bold – to offer the country a real and necessary alternative – the disastrous policy of the present government cannot be effectively opposed and stopped.
“We urge Labour Party members to ensure that the Defence Review be published, together with a full democratic debate within the party and at its next conference. This issue is too important – for the entire country and its future – to be sidelined in this shameful way.”