The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has responded to reports that the Ministry of Defence is resisting a Treasury plan to make the MoD pay for Trident and its replacement. CND said this exposes the MoD’s real thinking on Trident: it is far from the essential weapons system Ministers claim it to be.
Currently spending on nuclear weapons is provided by a budget separate from general MoD departmental spending.
Kate Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said “It seems that the MoD wants it, but not badly enough to pay for it. They won’t cut back anything else and want ‘someone else’ to fund it – but whichever budget it comes from, the reality is that we’re all having to endure huge cuts elsewhere so that this white elephant can be retained.
“The MoD knows that the public won’t accept spending billions a year on nuclear weapons – a system that senior military leaders describe as ‘completely useless’ and polls show a majority of the public oppose. If Trident really were essential to national security it would top the MoD’s spending priorities – the fact they’d rather not pay for it at all suggests that even they understand that the ?100bn cost of Trident and its replacement would be a complete waste of national resources.”
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For further information and interviews please contact CND’s Press Officer, on 0207 7002350 or 07968 420859
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is one of Europe’s biggest single-issue peace campaigns, with over 35,000 members in the UK. CND campaigns for the abolition of all nuclear weapons everywhere.
Fox in Treasury wrangle over Trident, Financial Times, 16th July 2010.
Trident nuclear deterrent ‘completely useless’ say retired military officers, Daily Telegraph, 16th January 2009 .
Poll: YouGov polling between 24 June and 2 July 2010. 22% of opinion formers and 29% of the public support the Government position of “Renew the deterrent with a broadly comparable, submarine-based ballistic nuclear-weapons system.”