The MoD’s Modernising Defence Programme has shown Trident to be obsolete and out of budget in its final instalment released today by the UK’s Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson.
In the final instalment of this defence review, Gavin Williamson announced plans to secure an additional £340 million for the MoD in next year’s comprehensive spending review. This request for yet more money comes after the MoD has already been granted an extra £1 billion in this year’s budget.
Mr Williamson stated that ‘“National security challenges have become more complex, intertwined and dangerous since 2015, faster than we anticipated.”
Citing new security threats such as cyber-attacks and space vulnerabilities, the Defence Secretary has specifically earmarked £160 million to tackle these new threats.
So why are we still replacing Trident?
As this review has concluded, security challenges have become more complex, involving non-state actors, migration, pandemics and environmental pressures. Nuclear weapons cannot tackle any of these mounting issues, demonstrating how obsolete nuclear weapons have become in the modern era.
Rather than spending £205 billion doesn’t it make more sense to scrap Trident and invest these funds in programmes which can actually tackle the UK’s security threats?
This final instalment of the Modernising Defence Programme has reaffirmed how out of control and out of touch UK defence spending has become, with seemingly unending public funds being earmarked for an obsolete, dangerous nuclear weapons system.
It is time for the UK to cancel Trident. Join CND in calling for the government to scrap Trident now.
Original image credit: ArildV