CND today welcomed the statement by Nick Clegg that the Liberal Democrats will not support the replacement of Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system with a like-for like system. But CND called on the Liberal Democrats to pursue full nuclear disarmament by Britain and not support a scaled-down system.
Kate Hudson, CND Chair, said: “We welcome this fresh thinking by Nick Clegg. He is the first party leader with the courage to take a real stand on this crucial issue. There is huge public opposition to Trident, particularly at a time of economic crisis and public spending cuts. Leading figures from across the political spectrum have been questioning the justifiability of high levels of expenditure on nuclear weapons – which have recently been described by senior military figures as militarily useless.”
“But we urge the Liberal Democrats – and other political parties – to pursue full nuclear disarmament by Britain. Replacing Trident with other forms of nuclear weapons will not deal with the problems of global proliferation that we ourselves are contributing to by failing to disarm. There are positive moves afoot – not least from President Obama – to bring about the global abolition of nuclear weapons. Britain must contribute fully and wholeheartedly to that process by abolishing its nuclear weapons entirely. We look to the Prime Minister, and to the Leader of the Opposition, to take bold steps on this matter.”