Aldermaston protest calls on government to 'stop fooling with nuclear weapons'

Thousands of protesters braved the Easter chill to wave flags and play music as part of a peaceful protest arranged by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) called Stop Fooling with Nuclear Weapons.
The protest coincided with a three-year campaign organised by Action Atomic Weapons Eradication (AAWE), which seeks to halt nuclear weapons production at Aldermaston and to put pressure on ministers in the run-up to the next general election in May 2015 with the main decision to replace Trident expected in 2016.
Speakers at the event included CND General Secretary, Kate Hudson, Green Party Leader, Natalie Bennett, fashion designer Katherine Hamnett and Green MEP for the South East of England, Keith Taylor.
Mr Taylor had criticised the safety arrangements at the site earlier this year after it was forced to close because of steelwork corrosion.
“For the sake of the safety of my constituents living near the disintegrating site I’m supporting the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament at their Aldermaston protest.
“I’m also calling for the billions of pounds set to be spent on a cold war relic to be redirected towards giving people socially useful jobs in our hospitals, schools and in building a green economy fit for the future,” he said.
This view was shared by protestors of all ages including Douglas Clinton from East Sussex who said that the huge amount of money that was being spent on the project could have been used in better ways.
“I have children who will grow up in a world with these weapons”, he said.
His daughter Alice, aged 10, said: “I think it’s quite important for children. This world is going to be our future and we have to stop nuclear weapons from being made.”
Protests were held at different AWE gates including a faith gate, womens gate and regional areas, to mark 55 years since the original march from London to Aldermaston, and CND campaigns officer Anne Schulthess said it was about bringing back the message about the effects of government cuts.
Phil and Marian McNichol, from the Reading Quakers, said that nuclear weapons were immoral and that the country should not be spending money on weapons of mass destruction in an age of austerity.
CND General Secretary, Kate Hudson, said: 'It is testament to the strength of opposition to Trident that so many have joined us here today.
“We have until 2016 when a parliamentary decision on Trident replacement is due to make clear to the government that jobs, healthcare, transport, education and renewable energy mean more to the people of this country than a strategically redundant, economically untenable, indiscriminate weapons system.”