ANTI-NUCLEAR weapons campaigners claimed yesterday they had exposed the lie that the controversial renewal of Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent would safeguard jobs.

In a report published yesterday, CND set out the employment implications of cancelling Trident replacement.

The report, written by economist Michael Burke, suggested that there was significant potential for industrial development and jobs creation throughout Britain if the £205 billion planned for Trident is invested elsewhere in the economy. 

Mr Burke said that the highly skilled workforce could be used in a large-scale industrial investment programme. He said that a host of industries were in need of investment, from wind and wave power, to nuclear decommissioning, to aerospace technology to marine industries and others. 

“The money saved by not replacing Trident would provide the finances for this programme. This would amount to an industrial strategy for Britain with the existing workforce and regions at its core.”

His study comes amid renewed concerns that the Tories were ploughing ahead with replacement via the “back door” before a pledged “main-gate” vote in Parliament scheduled to take place this year.

CND general secretary Kate Hudson said: “Our calculations show that 11,500 jobs depend on Trident-related work and many of these jobs would still exist even if Trident replacement is cancelled.

“Spending a fraction of the £205 billion Trident budget on a large-scale industrial investment programme could expand already growing parts of the economy.”

Ms Hudson called on unions to demand defence diversification, engage with the process and present this as an opportunity for industrial and economic expansion.

But the GMB union, which represents Trident workers at Faslane and elsewhere, rejected the report saying it had failed to come up with a “single credible argument” and describing some of its key proposals as “risible.”

GMB regional officer Gary Cook said: “Trident supports thousands of jobs and skills across Scotland, not to mention communities on the Clyde and in Fife.

“It is regrettable that there is not a single credible argument in this report about how these high-value jobs and skills could be sustained in the absence of Trident.”

Mr Cook dismissed the report’s call for greater investment in renewable energy and said it “totally ignored the reality of renewables employment and manufacturing in the UK.”