PRESSURE PILES ON LABOUR OVER TRIDENT

PRESSURE PILES ON LABOUR OVER TRIDENT

£2BN SEPTEMBER SIGN-OFF MUST BE SCRAPPED

As reports today (Tuesday) suggest the replacement of Trident will be struck from Labour’s election manifesto, the SNP has called on the Prime Minister to rule out signing off on an imminent £2bn design contract for the weapons system.

A National Audit Office report highlighted that the current timetable for renewal would mean “the initial Gate decision to enter the Assessment phase and place a full design contract for the submarine must be taken by September 2009.”

The deadline comes as polling shows that the tide has turned on Trident renewal.

SNP Westminster leader and Defence spokesperson Angus Robertson MP said:

“The tide has well and truly turned on Trident renewal, but we should not have to wait and see if Trident will be struck from Labour’s manifesto next year – Gordon Brown must rule out signing-off the £2bn design contract due this month.

“People struggle to understand, at a time when budgets are tight across the armed forces and Scotland faces Treasury cuts, why the UK government is sinking billions of pounds into a new generation of unwanted and unnecessary nuclear weapons.

“The fact of the matter is, the people of Scotland do not want weapons of mass destruction on the Clyde. The Scottish Parliament opposes it, the Scottish Government opposes it; defence chiefs, trade unions, religious organisations, and civil society all oppose replacing this nuclear deterrent.

“To waste vast sums on cash on this unwelcome project is impossible to justify. Any way that you look at it, on moral, economic or political grounds, renewal of these weapons of mass destruction is untenable.”