The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has welcomed the Government’s announcement today that it will publish the Trident Alternatives Review.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) had consistently stated that it had ‘no plans to publish’ the Lib Dem-led review into alternatives to like-for-like replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons system – a position which had drawn criticism from MPs and campaigners.
But today’s Mid-Term Review confirmed that the government will ‘complete and publish the review of alternatives to Trident.’
CND General Secretary Kate Hudson described it as a ‘necessary and positive step’ in facilitating debate over the future of the UK’s nuclear weapons:
‘The government was rightly criticised for its reluctance to publish the Trident Alternatives Review, so today’s announcement is a necessary and positive step. Naturally, most observers thought it was pretty pointless to commission a review and then hide the findings – especially over an issue of such enormous importance.’
‘As the British public faces the impact of further cuts to services, it is no surprise that it’s challenging the prospect of spending over £100bn on a Cold War weapons system (a figure recently corroborated by former Defence Minister Sir Nick Harvey MP). And at least with today’s move the government is in a small way getting in step with the majority of public opinion which sees nuclear weapons as useless and exorbitantly expensive.’