March, 28 2018, 09:30am EDT
Campaigners Lambast PS600m Extra for Trident Submarines
Anti-nuclear campaigners have condemned the announcement of an extra PS600 million for the Dreadnought submarine programme, part of the government scheme to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system.
The extra funding, which will be made by the Treasury to the Ministry of Defence, was announced in today's Prime Minister's Questions.
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said:
WASHINGTON
Anti-nuclear campaigners have condemned the announcement of an extra PS600 million for the Dreadnought submarine programme, part of the government scheme to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system.
The extra funding, which will be made by the Treasury to the Ministry of Defence, was announced in today's Prime Minister's Questions.
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said:
"Spending on Trident is out of control - another PS600 million announced today. This means the Ministry of Defence is already overspending at this early stage of replacing Britain's nuclear weapons system, which is why the contingency fund is now being eaten into.
"It's a further example of the lack of transparency on Trident spending, the full costs of which the government never admits to. Our calculations, using government figures in the public domain, show that Trident replacement will cost more than PS205 billion over the lifetime of the scheme, yet you will never hear the government admit to these full costs.
"Theresa May announced the PS600 million today as though it were positive news, but it represents more millions that could have been spent on schools, hospitals and building new homes."
CND campaigns non-violently to rid the world of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction and to create genuine security for future generations. CND opposes all nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction: their development, manufacture, testing, deployment and use or threatened use by any country.
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As Senate Democrats prepared to move forward with a procedural vote on the annual defense budget package that passed in the House earlier this week, the Congressional Progressive Caucus outlined its objections to the legislation and called for the Pentagon budget to be cut, with military funding freed up to "reinvest in critical human needs."
CPC Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said following the passage of the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2025 (H.R. 5009) that "it should alarm every American taxpayer that we are nearing a trillion-dollar annual budget for an agency rampant with waste, fraud, and abuse."
Jayapal, who was one of 140 lawmakers to oppose the package, emphasized that the Pentagon has failed seven consecutive annual audits.
Despite being the only federal agency to never have passed a federal audit, said Jayapal, the Department of Defense "continues to receive huge boosts to funding every year. Our constituents deserve better."
As Common Dreams reported last month, more than half of the department's annual budget now goes to military contractors that consistently overcharge the government, contributing to the Pentagon's inability to fully account for trillions of taxpayer dollars.
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Jayapal noted that the legislation—which was passed with the support of 81 Democrats and 200 Republicans—also includes anti-transgender provisions, barring the children of military service members from receiving gender-affirming healthcare in "the first federal statute targeting LGBTQ people since the 1990s when Congress adopted 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and the Defense of Marriage Act."
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday that the legislation "has some very good things we Democrats wanted in it, it has some bad things we wouldn't have put in there, and some things that were left out," and indicated that he had filed cloture for the first procedural vote on the NDAA.
The vote is expected to take place early next week, and 60 votes are needed to begin debate on the package.
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Jayapal noted that the funding package includes substantive pay raises for service members and new investments in housing, healthcare, childcare, and other support for their families.
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Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty's senior director for research, advocacy, policy, and campaigns, said in a statement that "these four attacks are emblematic of Israel's shocking disregard for civilian lives in Lebanon and their willingness to flout international law."
The September 29 attack "destroyed the house of the Syrian al-Shaar family, killing all nine members of the family who were sleeping inside," the report states.
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