London Holds Largest Anti-Nuclear Protest in DecadesBy Michaela Whitton A relic of the Cold War, Trident began under the Polaris system in the 1960s and was the U.K.s contribution to NATOs nuclear deterrent strategy against the Soviet Union. Under Polaris, at least one submarine with nuclear capabilities was on patrol at all times, ready to launch a counter-strike should Britain come under nuclear attack. Throughout the decades, since 1969, at least one submarine has patrolled U.K. borders. The British government boasts: Our retention of an independent centre of nuclear decision making makes clear to any adversary that the costs of an attack on U.K. vital interests will outweigh any benefits. With the decision imminent as to whether to replace the system and MPs set to vote later this year campaigners are adamant that the cost of renewing the extremely costly system during strict austerity measures just doesnt add up. According to the defense ministry, four replacement submarines will cost 31 billion to build, test, and commission over 35 years. Demonstrators carried placards on Saturday that read, Books, Not Bombs, and NHS, Not Trident in sentiments echoed by Labour leader and veteran anti-war campaigner, Jeremy Corbyn, who told the crowd: If a nuclear war took place, there would be mass destruction on both sides of the conflict. We live in a world where so many things are possible. Where peace is possible in so many places. You dont achieve peace by planning for war and not respecting human rights. He added: Todays demonstration is an expression of many opinions and views. Im here because I believe in a nuclear-free Britain and a nuclear-free future. Carol Turner, writing for campaign group Stop The War, claims Britains nuclear weapon simply doesnt protect Britain from threats to its security. She points to the governments own National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA) 2015, which lists a nuclear attack as a Tier 2 threat and not one of the short-term dangers facing Britain, but one of seven potential long-term threats. With terrorism and cyber-attacks high on both lists alongside overseas instability in the Middle East and North Africa three other threats were public health epidemics, natural disasters, and activities by transnational criminal organisations and terrorist groups, including human traffickers. In the case of the seventh threat from weapons of mass destruction, the NSRA considers chemical and biological attacks against Britain or U.K. military forces to be the more likely scenarios. Rightly questioning what good Trident would be in any of the above situations, Turner was frank: Indeed, experts are beginning to worry about threats to Trident possibilities such as a cyber-attack which takes it out of operation, or underwater drones becoming capable of detecting its silent submarines. Truth out: Trident is a billion-pound anachronism. If we didnt replace it, the government would have funds to invest in productive ventures like house building and improvements to our road and rail networks activities that would help grow the economy and generate more resources for health, education and social spending. And, of course, more cash to spare for actual threats to human security. This article (London Holds Largest Anti-Nuclear Protest in Decades) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org.Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org. Lester B. Pearson, the Prime minister of Canada that took Canada out of the nuclear MAD. equation said it clearly and I fully endorse this logic even though I think that as long as mankind will think and view the economy in terms of scarcity of resources there will be a need for a conventional defense for each country. I am totally against a NWO. or a one world government as it would be a one world corporate domination. If the corporate financial elite, rascals, thieves and crooks from all horizons are chanting and praising for a one world government you better be sure it will be a disaster for mankind. Well said as Im a fellow Canadiancheers 