The
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) unanimously
supported the resolution from Rochdale and Littleborough Peace
Group at its annual conference on Sunday (14 October 2012).
The
conference noted that the government is maintaining high
levels of military spending, while making swingeing cuts to
essential public services, like adult social care. The
conference resolved to “continue to campaign for the
immediate decommissioning of all UK nuclear weapons”, to
“campaign for the conversion of jobs in both the nuclear and
so-called 'conventional' defence sectors to jobs in peaceful
and productive sectors of the economy, such
as green technology and renewable
energy” and to “campaign for the transfer of at least 50% of
current government spending on so-called 'defence' to fund
proportionate increases in spending on health, education and
social care.”
Pat
Sanchez who spoke in favour of the motion said,
“While,
children’s
social care spending is being decimated and adult social care
is being cut by 28%, Cameron and Clegg admit, in their introduction to the Strategic Defence and
Security Review, that the
so-called “defence budget” will rise in cash terms; that, as
demanded by NATO, it will cost at least 2% of the country’s
Gross Domestic Product throughout each of the next four
years and that they expect the UK to continue to have the
fourth highest level of military spending of any country in
the world. When the government is forcing local authorities
like Rochdale to slash essential public services, these
levels of spending on the means to kill, destroy, maim and
injure are entirely unacceptable. Britain does not need
military spending which is higher than any other EU country
and does not need to be spending twelve times more per head
of population on warfare than the Chinese government. This
money should be spent on the services we need, not
squandered on armaments, war and nuclear weapons.”
Pat
urged people in Rochdale to support the TUC’s A Future
That Works rally on Saturday 20 October 2012 and to
join the ‘Cut Trident contingent on the march.
The
CND conference also re-elected Pat Sanchez as an individual
delegate to its National Council, while Philip Gilligan remains the
representative from Greater Manchester and District CND.
For
the full text of the resolution, please see http://www.cnduk.org/images/stories/conf12.pdf
(pp17-18).
The
Strategic Defence and Security Review is available at http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/documents/digitalasset/dg_191634.pdf
