31 January 2018
The Green Party has called on the Government to scrap nuclear weapons for good after Government figures revealed the costs rose by £575.5 million in 12 months.
Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party, said the Government’s failure to deliver the weapons on time or in budget “reveals the lie behind its claims to be economically competent”.
Bartley made the call in response to a National Audit Office report which found the Ministry of Defence’s Equipment Plan for 2017-2017 to have a spending shortfall of between £4bn and £20bn [1].
Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party, said:
“The spiralling cost of nuclear should be the final nail in the Trident coffin. It is unacceptable that the Government is set to spend an estimated £575.5 million more on nuclear weapons it will never use, while inflicting cuts on an NHS and public services already in crisis. The fact the Government cannot deliver these weapons on time or in budget reveals the lie behind its claims to be economically competent. It’s time Trident was scrapped for good.”
ENDS.
For more information contact: press@greenparty.org.uk / 0203 691 9401
Notes:
1. The National Audit Office states that the MoD’s Equipment Plan 2017-2027 is not affordable: “At present the affordability gap ranges from a minimum of £4.9bn to £20.8bn if financial risks materialise and ambitious savings are not achieved”: https://www.nao.org.uk/report/ministry-of-defence-the-equipment-plan-2017-to-2027/
Point 2.13 on page 19 states the forecast 10-year costs of the Dreadnought project increased again, by £575.5 million: https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/The-Equipment-Plan-2017-to-2027.pdf
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