THE government is risking nuclear war, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament said this week in response to Labour’s military spending plans.

CND general secretary Sophie Bolt slammed the plan — which will see military spending soar by 27 per cent in real terms over this parliament — as taking the country in “exactly the wrong direction.”

Ms Bolt said: “This Defence Investment Plan is a blueprint for dragging Britain into a global war that could go nuclear.

“The government is committing at least £64 billion to nuclear weapons over the next four years, but the real cost of Britain’s nuclear weapons programme is far higher.

“It’s a financial black hole that will drain public resources for generations.

“Starmer’s decision to buy nuclear-capable F-35A fighter jets marks a dangerous expansion of Britain’s role within Nato.

“At a time when nuclear risks are rising across Europe, this is exactly the wrong direction.

“At a time when climate breakdown is accelerating, and we are on the verge of another cost-of-living crisis, it is totally reckless to be making drastic, long-term cuts to public services to fund hundreds of billions more for war and nuclear weapons that will only worsen these crises.

“These are political choices and they are the wrong ones.”

Real security, she said, “means investing in people — not nuclear weapons. Britain should be leading international efforts for nuclear disarmament, diplomacy and peaceful conflict resolution instead of fuelling a new arms race.

“As CND’s People Not Nukes campaign makes clear, Britain’s future security depends on investing in people, not weapons of mass destruction.”

The government plan earmarks at least £64bn for Britain’s nuclear weapons over the next four years, including nuclear submarines, the development of a new nuclear warhead, and involvement in the Aukus pact, alongside Australia and the US, escalating the arms race in the Pacific.

The plan, which some Labour hawks as well as leading brasshats have rejected as insufficient, also involves the purchase of nuclear-capable fighter jets, restoring a nuclear role for the air force.

The escalating arms programme has been funded by cuts in other areas of government spending, including transport and energy, and still has a “black hole” of nearly £5bn for incoming premier Andy Burnham to inherit.