The Labour Leadership front-runner Jeremy Corbyn has used a speech at the annual CND Hiroshima commemoration in London to launch a plan for a Defence Diversification Agency to redeploy the high-skilled workforce in the nuclear weapons sector, following a decision not to replace Trident.
The policy sets out how transitioning jobs away from nuclear weapons into “more socially productive industries” would “protect jobs and skills” and “help grow the British economy”.
Jeremy Corbyn is the only one of the four candidates Labour leadership candidates committed to voting against Trident replacement when the issue comes before Parliament, probably in 2016. In the policy document, Corbyn reaffirms the “moral duty, and strategic defence and international commitments” Britain has to make the world a safer place, saying, "As a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Britain should therefore give a lead in discharging its obligations by not seeking a replacement for Trident".
The SNP is opposed to Trident renewal but faced criticism during the run-up to the independence referendum and the General Election that disarmament would damage jobs in Scotland, where Britain's fleet of nuclear submarines are based.
In his document, Corbyn said he would ensure that "jobs and skills are not just maintained, but also expanded."
Commenting on the policy document, Kate Hudson, General Secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) said: “As the only anti-Trident leadership contender, Jeremy Corbyn is not only giving a voice to the many Labour members who oppose nuclear weapons but is also setting out practical plans to transition the high-skilled workforce away from nuclear weapons production. A Britain without nuclear weapons will contribute to a more peaceful world – and one that can build a sustainable, high-skilled economy with secure, socially productive jobs.”
*Defence Diversification here: https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/jeremyforlabour/pages/111/attachme...
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