Anti-Nuclear campaigners from across Gwent took part in a demonstration in Newport to voice their concerns over Britain’s Trident Nuclear weapons.
The event highlighted the worries over future funding of the National Health Service (NHS) and was held in coordination with a major gathering in London at the Parliament buildings. Supporters of the Newport branch for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) called for funding for the NHS and not for Trident outside the Royal Gwent Hospital. Dr John Cox, Newport CND Chairman said: “It is of concern to those taking part that the Westminster Government has announced a further £261 Million of extra funding for new Nuclear weapons.”
Secretary of CND Newport John Minnion said the 60 strong group were showing their support for the NHS and sending a clear message to MPs that Trident must be scrapped, not replaced.
He said: “As people drove past people were tooting and giving us the thumbs up so we felt very supported by the community.
“Cuts in services are really biting and it makes people think if Trident is worth it as it’s very expensive and dangerous and is crippling the UK financially and it can’t continue.”
CND Website states: The main security threats we face today, as stated by the government in its latest National Security Strategy, are terrorism and cyber-attacks. The threat of state-on-state nuclear attack was downgraded in the report. Investing billions in nuclear weapons diverts funds away from addressing these priorities.
There are many experienced military and political figures who confirm that nuclear weapons are not strategically useful. Former Conservative Defence Secretary Michael Portillo has described Trident as “completely past its sell-by date.” Senior military figures, including the former head of the British Armed Forces, agree, describing our nuclear weapons as “completely useless” and “virtually irrelevant.”
A giant scarf was wrapped around the Ministry of Defence, part of an anti-nuclear protest calling on the government to “wrap up” the Trident nuclear missile programme. The pink scarf, which was knitted by people from around the world, stretched around the Ministry of Defence building in central London. Thousands of people supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament’s protest, which also included a rally outside Parliament.
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