As a survey of 500 parliamentary candidates across all major parties shows 81 per cent (over four fifths) would vote against Trident replacement, candidates from across the political spectrum gathered together in a show of cross-party opposition to Trident replacement.
Candidates from Labour, Liberal Democrats, Greens, SNP and Plaid Cymru spoke in Westminster at the launch of CND’s Vote Out Trident manifesto yesterday (25 March 2015), pledging to vote against £100 billion for new nuclear weapons if elected.
"The tide is turning on this £100 billion Cold War relic", said CND's General Secretary Kate Hudson. "And that’s no surprise when annual spending on our current nuclear weapons outstrips the annual funding gap facing the NHS. Repeated polls show a majority of the British public oppose Trident replacement and a massive 81 per cent of parliamentary candidates surveyed said they would vote against Trident replacement if elected."
Hudson continued: "Trident has now become a significant issue in this general election.There is widespread opposition across all parties and sometimes from candidates who are at odds with their party's policy as it stands. So there are good prospects for a shift in the anti-Trident composition of the incoming Parliament.
"While David Cameron is attempting to fear-monger over potential coalition negotiations and their impact on Trident replacement, the Conservatives are increasingly isolated on this issue – not only in Westminster but in the UK as a whole.
"‘Every other major party has expressed openness to engaging with the question of whether Britain really needs to spend £100 billion on a Cold War weapons system which senior military figures have described as “completely useless”.
"Labour has said it would consider the case for a reduced nuclear weapons system. The Liberal Democrats oppose full replacement of the four submarines. And the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party all want to scrap the lot.
"The public is mobilising to stop this madness. On Monday 13 April, anti-Trident demonstrators will descend on the Ministry of Defence for a street party and protest with musicians and speakers to demand an end to plans to squander over £100 billion of our money on a monstrous and useless weapons system."
* More on the issues in the 2015 General Election from Ekklesia: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/generalelection2015
*CND http://www.cnduk.org/home
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