Press Association
Friday 12th March 2010
Billions of pounds could be spent on public services and helping hard-working people through the recession if the Government scrapped Trident and ID cards, a union leader will declare.
The country does not want or need the nuclear submarines or national ID scheme, according to Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison.
He will say: "Trident costs £1.5 billion a year to run and a replacement will cost more than £40 billion. This is a criminal waste of money that the country clearly cannot afford."
Mr Prentice will tell his union's political conference in Manchester: "That money would be better spent building and running our schools and hospitals, funding better pensions to care for the elderly and improving the quality of people's lives.
"This recession is hitting working people very hard. The Government has ploughed billions into shoring up the banks and big business at enormous cost to the taxpayer.
"It's now time to get their priorities straight - the money they would save scrapping Trident could be used to stimulate the economy and help people who are losing their jobs to find work and families facing repossession to keep their homes.
"Even those who argued that a nuclear deterrent was necessary in the 60s and 70s can no longer argue that such expenditure is justified. With money being so tight, it's time to face facts - Trident and ID cards must go."
