TOKEN TRIDENT CUT DOES NOT GO FAR ENOUGH

TOKEN TRIDENT CUT DOES NOT GO FAR ENOUGH

PM MISSES OPPORTUNITY TO LEAD WORLD ON NON PROLIFERATION

Reports Gordon Brown is to tell the United Nations he is willing to cut the UK's fleet of Trident missile-carrying submarines by just one has been branded as a missed opportunity by the SNP.

SNP Westminster leader and Defence spokesperson Angus Robertson MP said the prime minister had the opportunity to genuinely lead the world on non-proliferation and make real budget savings by scrapping renewal plans completely.

Mr Robertson said:

“The prime minister’s announcement does not go nearly far enough. Gordon Brown has yet again missed the opportunity to genuinely lead the world on non-proliferation, and make real budget savings in the process.

“Instead of offering a vague pledge to make a token reduction Gordon Brown should make a firm commitment to eliminating nuclear weapons. The fact is that the prime minister has been totally inconsistent on nuclear arms limitation – he is lecturing the world on non-proliferation while simultaneously planning to pay a £2bn down payment on Trident replacement.

“Any way you look at it - on moral, economic or political grounds - renewal of this nuclear system is untenable.

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

“Civil society, trade unions, religious organisations and the Scottish Government are working together to keep a new generation of Trident missiles out of our waters – even military leaders openly question the affordability and rationale for these weapons, and as recent polling shows, the tide has well and truly turned on Trident.”