Sir,
Cllr Jillian Creasy
The agreement to cut nuclear warheads between Russian and USA is to be welcomed. It is timed to set an example to other countries ahead of the Nuclear Non Profileration Treaty review conference in May. 189 countries are signed up to to move towards disarmament but very little progress has been made since the end of the cold war.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said the UK is committed to a world without nuclear weapons and “stands ready” to take part in future multilateral disarmament talks. Yet, with the country in financial crisis, the government remains committed to replacing Trident nuclear submarines. Greenpeace estimate the cost of replacing Trident as £34 billion with additional running costs of £63 billion. Modern warfare has moved on since the cold war and Trident is now massively expensive and irrelevant.
Public services face massive cuts in the next 5 years which will affect us
all, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable in society. To throw away
£97 billion on Trident over the next 25 years would be complete madness –
Trident should be scrapped now.
Yours
Cllr Jillian Creasy, Sheffield Green Party