Rochdale
and Littleborough Peace Group joined thousands of protesters from around the
country on Saturday (24 January 2015) to wrap the Ministry of Defence in two
miles of the bright pink peace scarf knitted for the Wool Against Weapons
campaign. They, then joined a rally opposite the Houses of Parliament, where
the crowd carried placards with messages including "A&E not WMD",
"Books Not Bombs" "Jobs Not Trident"., "NHS Not
Trident" and "Homes Not Trident". They called on the Government
to "wrap up" the ever more costly Trident nuclear missiles
programme.
Philip
Gilligan, on behalf of the Peace Group said “We are here to give the government
and our own MPs a very clear message. They need to take the issue of the
£billions squandered on useless and dangerous nuclear weapons more seriously.
When Rochdale and the rest of the country desperately needs an end to austerity
and improved health, education and social services, it is unacceptable for our
MPs to remain indifferent and non-committal about plans to waste a further £100
billion on developing an even more dangerous Trident system. We need them to
tell us much more clearly what they think about the Trident system and plans to
replace it. Last week Simon Danczuk and Liz MMcInnes had a clear opportunity in
Parliament to represent the views of their electorates and to vote against
so-called 'Trident Replacement'. I am appalled that they failed to do so.
Failing to vote and avoiding discussion is not enough.”
At its January meeting (14 January 2015), Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group welcomed news
that former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott has come ‘round
to the view that the £billions currently earmarked for a new nuclear
submarine
fleet should be diverted to spending on the NHS.
Peace Group members were delighted to learn that Mr Prescott has suggested a straightforward way of resolving the deteriorating situation in the NHS. In an article in the Mirror, at the weekend, he expressed admiration for hospital workers caring
for his sister, but also noted that “councils have cut their care budgets – so more
elderly patients have to stay in hospital blocking beds because there aren’t
the care packages to help them in the community” and that “A&E waiting
times are now the worst since records began”. He concluded that “Crisis hit hospitals deserve our cash more than nuclear submarines”. (see http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/john-prescott-crisis-hit-hospitals-4957260#ICID=sharebar_twitter
)
Speaking on behalf of the Peace Group, Philip Gilligan said, "We know that Liz
McInnes and Simon Danczuk share John Prescott’s horror at the impact of
austerity on our health and social services. What we, now, need from our local
MPs are clear promises that, if re-elected in May, they too would support a
policy of diverting the £billions destined for a new nuclear weapons system to spending
on the NHS. Will they join the former deputy leader of the Labour Party in stating
unequivocally that cancelling so-called ‘Trident Replacement’, so that our
loved ones can be cared for properly, is “a price worth paying”."
