Renewing UK nuclear missiles will cost more jobs, report warns
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, Sept 14, IRNA -- The net impact of going ahead with the replacement of Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system will be at a cost of more defence job losses, according to a new report launched at the annual Trades’ Union Congress in Manchester Tuesday.
The report, 'Trident, jobs and the UK economy' found that there would need to be a loss of more labour-intensive conventional defence activities to pay for the huge £76 billion cost to replace Britain’s submarine-based nuclear deterrent.
Using official figures, the authors show the cancellation of surface ships, aircraft, armoured vehicles and air force bases will endanger far more jobs than the relatively small numbers that would be employed on the Trident replacement.
CND general secretary Kate Hudson said the government is demanding up to 20 per cent cuts from the Ministry of Defence at a time when the cost of Trident replacement will have to come from the main defence budget because of the economic crisis.
'Trident is cash-hungry whilst providing relatively few jobs. Hundreds of millions are to be spent with US-based contractors, providing nothing for the UK economy,” Hudson said.
She said the report makes clear that with relatively small investment, the key facility dependent on Trident work could be re-aligned towards the rapidly growing needs of the low-carbon economy.
“Precision marine engineering skills are perfect for developing wave and tidal energy systems, where Britain could be a world leader,” she also said.
The report comes ahead of Britain’s National Security Council meeting on Friday, when the cost of replacing Trident is expected to be discussed.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, the discussion could go beyond the recent row on who funds it to whether the system should be replaced at all, and if so, by what.
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