As CND prepares for its national demonstration at the BAE Shipyard, Barrow-in-Furness, on Saturday 22 March, the government is ramping up nuclear threats to prop up Britain’s failing nuclear weapons programme and justify military spending hikes in next week’s Spring Statement
BAE: laughing all the way to the bank, thanks to the Labour Party
The recent visit to the BAE Shipyard in Barrow and nuclear base at Faslane by Keir Starmer and John Healey, saw the Defence Secretary claim the weapons could do “untold damage” against countries like Russia in the event of a conflict.
It was also announced that the Port of Barrow, which has built submarines for Britain’s nuclear weapons programme since the 1950s, will be given royal status. This status applies to the dockland where the arms manufacturer’s shipyard is based and not the wider Barrow area.
CND’s protest comes ahead of the chancellor’s Spring Statement, where it’s expected that billions of pounds will be added to the military budget while brutal cuts are made to overseas aid, and services helping some of the country’s most vulnerable people.
The government argues that increasing the military budget will help revitalise “left behind” industrial towns and the wider economy. But military spending has one of the lowest employment multipliers of all sectors. Towns like Barrow need sustainable and varied forms of employment that put its people and the planet first.
Britain’s nuclear weapons accounts for at least 14% of the MoD’s military expenditure but the most recent annual report by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) found that key parts of its nuclear weapons programme are either failing or have major issues. CND is calling on the government to scrap Britain’s nuclear programme once and for all and develop an industrial strategy that generates sustainable economic growth that benefits everyone.
Protest details
The protest details for Saturday 22 March are as follows:
12 noon: activists will meet and take part in a leafletting action outside in Barrow-in-Furness town centre, outside The Forum, Duke Street, LA14 1HH
1-3pm: March and rally on High Level (Michaelson Road) Bridge over the Devonshire Dock.
Speakers at rally include: Sophie Bolt, CND General Secretary; Ben Soffa, Palestine Solidarity Campaign National Secretary; Dr Stuart Parkinson, Scientists for Global Responsibility Executive Director; Philip Gilligan, South Lakeland and Lancaster District CND Coordinator; Helen Tucker, NEU Cumbria and International Solidarity Officer for NEU Northern Region; Marianne Birkby, Radiation Free Lakeland; Linda Walker, Manchester Climate Justice; James Aigh, Paper Not Planes – Stop Croppers F35.
CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt said:
Starmer and Healey’s recent visit to Faslane and Barrow is part of the government’s reckless attempt to justify Britain’s immoral nuclear weapons programme. We need to see Healey’s nuclear threats for what they are: whipping up global tensions to justify siphoning off billions of pounds to the arms industry. Nuclear weapons do nothing to make people safer. They are a huge drain on public finances that will only make the population poorer and see essential services cut even further to the bone. Nuclear weapons encourage proliferation and make nuclear use more likely. Our protest isn’t about taking jobs away from people. Towns like Barrow could, and should, be at the forefront of a dynamic green economy.
Palestine Solidarity Campaign National Secretary Ben Soffa said:
Weapons and components manufactured in Britain – including by BAE Systems – are being used to murder Palestinian men, women and children in Gaza. Despite it being acknowledged that components made in North West England were part of the Israeli F-35 plane that killed 90 Palestinians in a single attack on the so-called ‘safe zone’ of Al-Mawasi, these exports continue. Now is the time for a thorough reassessment of whether exports from the UK’s weapons producers are in reality contributing to growing global instability and breaches of international law, including attacks on civilians.
No more war from Labour (or BAE)
Scientists for Global Responsibility Executive Director Dr Stuart Parkinson said:
The two greatest threats to the world are nuclear war and climate change. We could tackle both by disarming nuclear weapons and diverting the engineering jobs to green energy. This is where Britain and the world need to focus their efforts. Britain’s green economy now employs about 900,000 people – far more than the arms industry – and it is expanding. Barrow could and should be part of this just transition.
Coordinator of South Lakeland and Lancaster District CND Philip Gilligan said:
Like many residents of Westmorland and Furness I am delighted that CND will be in Barrow on Saturday calling for a future which is not dependent on investment in weapons which would kill millions of people and threaten all our futures. Barrow deserves better.
Spokesperson from the campaign Paper Not Planes: Stop Croppers F35 James Aigh said:
Paper Not Planes: stop Croppers F35 aims to stop the Burneside-based business, James Cropper PLC, supplying parts for F35 war planes, dozens of which are currently being used by Israel in their war on Gaza. No one wants a job supplying arms to a genocidal army, or building weapons of mass destruction. We can meet the needs of people in Barrow and Burneside through a redistribution of wealth.
Featured image via the Canary
