Star date: 15th July 2016 

TRIDENT – A £205BILLION MISUSE OF PUBLIC MONEY

"I wouldn't trust Theresa May with a pair of blunt scissors, let alone a nuclear arsenal" Andrew, CND

Manchester CND unfurled banners over the bridge on Princess Parkway, Hulme, today to give a clear message for local MPs to use their vote on Monday against the Government's plan to replace Trident, the £205billion nuclear weapons system.

"Spending billions to potentially kill millions is a misuse of public money" says Andrew Gibson, CND campaigner.

Full details here...

`Trident: Where Policy and Principle Have Yet To Meet...'

This was the message flaunted over the bridge on Princess Parkway, Hulme, today as Manchester CND campaigners raised awareness amongst communities and urged Greater Manchester MPs to vote against the new Trident replacement at a Parliamentary vote on Monday.

Trident is the UK's nuclear weapons system, which relies on at least one submarine patrolling the oceans at all times and is set to cost around £205billion.

Labour MPs were expecting a vote later in the year, after their autumn conference had discussed and balloted on the matter - but there's now going to be a snap vote on Monday in what is being seen as the first test of new Prime Minister Theresa May.

Jeremy Corbyn is known to be a strong opponent of nuclear weapons, having joined CND aged 16 years old, while Labour Party leadership challengers, Angela Eagle and Owen Smith, have both voted for Trident replacement in the past.

"The timing of this debate is incredibly unfortunate" says Andrew Gibson local CND campaigner "It is the view of local CND groups that this vote was called now for cynical reasons, rather than to properly scrutinise a serious, even deadly, issue. At the minimum, MPs should abstain on this vote.

"Trident replacement – spending billions to potentially kill millions – is a misuse of public money" he adds "As an aside, I wouldn't trust Theresa May with a pair of blunt scissors, let alone a nuclear arsenal."

In 2007 Salford Council voted to affiliate to Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA), `subject to budget considerations'. It's an organisation that seeks to reduce the risks associated with both nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Unsurprisingly, this week NFLA came out in opposition to the Trident replacement plans.

"The Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) is disappointed with the Prime Minister's decision to call a snap debate in Parliament on the proposed replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons programme on July 18th" the organisation states "Such a decision should be made carefully and with full consideration of all the issues involved. It should not be made for any narrow short-term party political benefit."

NFLA Chair, Councillor Ernie Galsworthy, explains: "I am aware of the call from all my predecessors over the past 36 years for a nuclear weapons free world. Such a call remains as urgent and pressing now as it has done in anytime since our formation in 1980.

"I call on MPs across the political spectrum to think very carefully and consider the important moral, ethical, economic and security issues around Trident replacement" he adds "This is not a party political matter, it is about whether it is right to continue to possess weapons of mass destruction or not."

Next week, other non-violent direct action protests against Trident are planned throughout Greater Manchester...