Quakers say "No" to Trident HD

Paul Parker of Quakers in Britain addresses a crowd outside parliament as MPs prepare to vote on Trident. Full text: We’ve been campaigning against nuclear weapons ever since they were invented. I’m here to tell you why Quakers say no to Trident, and why we are calling on MPs to vote against renewing it this evening. I’m sure you can think of plenty of reasons not to spend billions of pounds on a nuclear weapons system. I certainly can. And there are good reasons, lots of them. I want to tell you the reasons we Quakers are against it. We’re not against Trident because it would make more sense to spend £41bn on improving public services, although that’s a good reason. We’re not against Trident because the costs aren’t clear, and keep rising, although that’s a good reason. We’re not against Trident because it’s out of step with the threats to national security Britain faces in the 21st century, although that’s a good reason. We’re not against Trident because senior military personnel have said they don’t think it’s the best way to keep Britain safe, although that’s a good reason. We’re not against Trident because opinion polls show a majority of Britons don’t want it, although that’s a good reason. Those are all good reasons, but they’re not the true reasons we Quakers oppose Trident replacement. Quakers oppose Trident because morality is important: it’s morally unacceptable for Britain to own weapons of mass destruction, now or in the future. We oppose Trident because love is important: no country should have the ability to vaporise human beings, kill millions of people in an instant and leave millions more exposed to a lifetime of trauma and pain. We oppose Trident because people are important; we are all children of God and we shouldn’t go around killing one another. We oppose Trident because peace is important: we want to live in a peaceful world, and you don’t build peace by threatening people, but by looking for non-violent solutions to conflict. We oppose Trident because God’s teaching is important: to rely on nuclear weapons as a deterrent is, to us, faithless, and to use them is a sin. We oppose Trident because human dignity is important: we know from Hiroshima and Nagasaki that the humanitarian consequences of using nuclear bombs are unthinkable and unbearable. We oppose Trident because the Earth matters: the environmental devastation which would follow a nuclear strike does not bear thinking about. We oppose Trident because a stable world is important: we believe a world without nuclear weapons would be a safer, not a more dangerous place. A few nuclear states flexing their muscle won’t encourage international co-operation and non-proliferation Parliament has an opportunity today, a responsibility today, to take a step towards a more peaceful, a more secure, a more dignified, a more faithful and a more loving future. Britain has an opportunity today, a responsibility today, to take the lead in securing a nuclear-weapons-free futu