7 March 2007: for immediate release
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has called a press conference for Wednesday 7th March at 11 am in Room C, 1 Parliament Street, Westminster.
MPs will give personal responses to the Defence Select Committee report on Trident replacement, which will be released early Wednesday morning. The Defence Committee’s report exposes the casual assertions and assumptions of the government’s White Paper, and raises crucial issues which the government has not addressed. The rushed government timeline will not permit the questions to be answered before the vote on 14th March.
MPs will be joined by CND Chair Kate Hudson, who will announce the release of two important new briefings relating to Trident replacement (see note 1):
1. The Cost of British Nuclear Weapons – details costs of up to £115 billion for the UK’s nuclear weapons programme over the next 50 years
2. Trident and Employment: The UK’s Industrial and Technological Network for Nuclear Weapons – explains options to maintain current employment levels under a non-nuclear defence policy
MPs speaking at the press conference include:
· Jeremy Corbyn (Lab)
· Katy Clark (Lab)
· Gavin Strang (Lab)
· Jon Trickett (Lab)
· Angus MacNeil (SNP)
The speakers will express a range of concerns, including the view that the decision on Trident replacement is being rushed, possibly for industrial reasons. The Committee’s report says that any decision must be based on the UK’s strategic needs, not on industrial factors.
The speakers will also point out that replacing Trident would breach our obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and that such an action will encourage nuclear proliferation worldwide. A replacement would provoke a new nuclear arms race and increase the dangers Britain faces.
For more information or to schedule individual interviews please contact Rick Wayman, CND’s Press & Communications Officer, on 07968 420 859.
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Notes to Editor:
1. For further information and interviews please contact Rick Wayman, CND’s Press & Communications Officer, on 0207 7002350 or 07968 420859
2. An ICM poll from June 2006 showed that 81% of the British public believes that any decision on Trident replacement should be made by Parliament, not the Prime Minister alone.
3. According to a July 2006 ICM poll, 59% of the British public opposes a replacement of Trident when presented with a cost of at least £25 billion.
4. 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.