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THE campaign to scrap Britain’s Trident nuclear weapon system will be pushed to the centre of the general election campaign today as thousands rally in Glasgow.
SNP First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Ayrshire Labour MP Katy Clark MP and Scottish Green leader Patrick Harvie MSP head a platform of speakers at the Bairns Not Bombs demonstration organised by the Scrap Trident Coalition.
The SNP has made it a “red line” condition for post-election support for a Labour government, and about three-quarters of Labour candidates have said they would vote against Trident renewal.
Scottish CND secretary Alan Mackinnon told the Morning Star that the election on May 7 is an opportunity to elect MPs who will commit to voting against a new generation of nuclear weapons.
“This demonstration will be a clear call from the people of Scotland that they no longer want to play host to Britain’s weapons of mass destruction,” he said.
“2016 will be the crunch year when the ‘main gate’ decision is taken on whether to go ahead with the new system.
“That’s why this election is so important.
“Over the next decade Trident will consume over a third of the UK defence procurement budget at a time when working people are facing savage austerity.
“The Trident system should be scrapped, not just removed from Scotland. It is dangerous, unaffordable and militarily useless in today’s multi-polar world.”
In a message of solidarity to the Scottish demonstrators, CND Cymru national secretary Jill Gough said: “Nuclear weapons should not be a party-political issue, they are a moral, an environmental and an economic issue.
“We in Wales call on everyone everywhere to vote Trident out, and to make sure that our representatives in London after May 7 are standing on the nuclear disarmament side of any ‘red lines’.”
Demonstrators will assemble from 10.30am in George Square, march into the city centre at 11am, returning for the rally at noon.
A vigil at Faslane nuclear base will follow on Wednesday April 8, and a there will be a day-long Bairns Not Bombs blockade of Faslane on Monday April 13.
