Protest planned in Plymouth opposing Trident nuclear programme

Members of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in Plymouth will hold a protest this evening (Monday 18th July) and call on MPs to vote against Trident replacement when Parliament debates the programme.

The nuclear submarines that carry the current Trident nuclear warheads are routinely serviced at Plymouth’s Devonport Dockyard, which CND members call “a blight on Plymouth”.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is supported by Labour Leader, Jeremy Corbyn who has called for the end of the Trident programme and declared that, if elected prime Minister he would not be prepared to use nuclear weapons.

Parliament is due to vote on the new Trident programme on Monday evening. Plymouth CND is staging a protest at Charles Cross roundabout to coincide with the vote by MPs. Prime Minister, Theresa May says “it would be sheer madness to contemplate even for a moment giving up Britain's independent nuclear deterrent.”

Trade unions at Devonport dockyard insist that the new nuclear weapons programme will be good for jobs and the economy of Plymouth. Mr Staunton, a trade union activist, says they’re wrong. “Plymouth is the site most responsible for the decommissioning of nuclear vessels, work we wholeheartedly agree with. The initiatives at South Yard, with potential for a green energy hub and technological expertise around wind and wave energy production is the future, not the obsolete and polluting technology of last century’s “nuclear age”.

The Ministry of Defence says the Trident Alternatives Review in 2013 demonstrated that no alternative system is as capable as the current Trident based deterrent, or as cost effective.