PEOPLE in Wrexham believe taxpayers’ money would be better spent on health, education and jobs than renewing the country’s nuclear deterrent, peace campaigners say.
Members of Wrexham Peace and Justice Forum and Wrexham Women for Peace set up stall in the town centre and canvassed opinion on Government plans to spend tens of billions of pounds upgrading Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system.
Spokeswoman Genny Bove said: “Shoppers, workers, students and pensioners were among those who took part in the survey, which invited people to suggest ways in which the money earmarked for Trident could be more usefully spent by ticking their choices or making their own suggestions on a large wall chart and on survey sheets.
“The most popular suggestion was to use the money on health services, with education, jobs, the environment and public transport not far behind.
“Other popular suggestions were pensions, housing, benefits and childcare.
“One group of students felt strongly that there was a need for more spending on social care for disabled people; several people mentioned the need for more funding for residential care and home care services, and there were many comments along the lines of ‘Anything but Trident!’.”
She added: “As well as conducting the survey, we handed out hundreds of CND leaflets about Trident replacement.
“These alerted people to the cost of Trident replacement and the obligations Britain is under as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“Government plans to spend ever increasing amounts of money we can’t afford on nuclear weapons, in clear contravention of the treaty, are being made behind closed doors without proper public accountability.”
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