Last month, another £570 million of public money for upgrading the UK’s nuclear weapons was announced (£120 million to refuel a Trident sub; £150 million more to be spent on nuclear plants making the reactors; and £300 million to refurbish the submarine yard). Budget Day confirmed that when it comes to military spending, there’s no such thing as austerity: it was set at a huge £38 billion for the coming year.
The government thinks we have £700 million to subsidise arms exports, £2.5 billion for new fighter jets, £6.2 billion for new aircraft carriers and £100 billion to renew nuclear weapons… so why are homelessness, hunger and inequality so rapidly on the rise?
It is a scandal that 1 in 4 children in the UK grow up in poverty. It is a disgrace that 20,000 disabled people will lose support for the basics in life when the Independent Living Fund closes. It is outrageous that thirteen times more people are relying on foodbanks to survive than did five years ago.
It is all the more scandalous when you realise that the UK’s military spending is among the highest in the world.
It’s time to shift priorities. This is the message we want to communicate on the Global Day of Action on Military Spending on Monday 14th April. However you share that message, you can contribute to a global wave of action to turn the tide on military spending.
- Share these powerful spending comparisons on Twitter and Facebook.
- Order postcards and posters to share the message in your area. Reply to this email with your address and how many you would like.
- Come along to an action on 14th April, or take a look at the guide for setting up a simple event in your town!
- Browse this website for more resources, links to petitions and ideas for action!
Together we can show that people know it’s time to shift priorities and redirect military spending to the things we really need.
The Westminster system (comprising Labour, LibDems, Tories) are ALL of the view that defence is first priority and that the UK poor and needy come at the bottom of the priority list near nuclear safety and ancient forests. So I see no point getting in harness with Labour which won’t even publically state it will “save the NHS” (a last vestige of ‘socialism’).
The only hope for the UK is if the Greens are elected and form a government. Let’s be clear: Westminster has failed us. What we can do, democratically, is another equally vital matter! Supporting any party causing our distress is foolish both in the short term and the long term. Expecting more sense from Labour is absurd!
This is disgusting, aside from the fact that I never got to say how my tax is spent, and I would certainly never allow my tax to go towards NUCLEAR power or weapons, the fact that disabled people (of who I am one) are being forced out of their own homes, starved to death, left to look after themselves when they are completely unable only goes to show how much this government ‘cares’ for it’s citizens. The Country is Broken, and must be Fixed. Not forced into poverty so David ‘C***’ Cameron can keep smiling along with all the rest of his confederacy of bastards.