TRIDENT SHOULD BE BROWN’S FIRST EFFICIENCY SAVING

TRIDENT SHOULD BE BROWN’S FIRST EFFICIENCY SAVING

As Downing Street trails efficiencies to save £12bn over four years ahead of Wednesday's pre-Budget report, SNP Treasury spokesperson Stewart Hosie MP urged the Chancellor to make serious savings by cutting the Trident weapons replacement programme.

Mr Hosie said:

“If the prime minister is serious about making efficiency savings he should start by abandoning plans to waste £25 billion on a nuclear missile system we do not need and the vast majority do not want.

“The position of Labour and the Tories in arguing for Trident is untenable in these difficult financial times.

“Labour must focus its cuts on unnecessary and unaffordable white elephant projects like Trident and ID cards – and in the teeth of recession Labour must rule-out slashing front-line services like health and education, and capital investment.

“The UK Government’s catastrophic financial failure underlines the need for Scotland to have responsibility to run our own affairs – with the ability to take the decisions needed to reflate our economy, contribute to recovery, and overcome the Downing Street downturn.”