PEACE campaigners braved freezing conditions yesterday and trekked to the government’s doorstep to call on it to scrap renewal of the Trident nuclear missile system.

Anti-arms group CND general secretary Kate Hudson, Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn and SNP MP Mike Weir led a delegation to Downing Street to deliver a letter opposing the missile system as leaders of the five permanent member states of the United Nations security council met in London before a nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference in three months’ time.

Letters were simultaneously handed in at British embassies in Washington, Tokyo and Delhi.

Britain, the US, China, France and Russia are the five permanent members of the UN security council.

They are supposedly committed to nuclear disarmament under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The letter, addressed to Prime Minister David Cameron, called on Britain to “take a new bold step by announcing it will not replace the Trident nuclear weapon system.”

It said such a statement would “hugely strengthen and advance” international calls for a ban on nuclear weapons.

Ms Hudson said Britain was best positioned as the host country of this event to “demonstrate a lead on disarmament at the meeting.

“With all five states formally committed to disarmament, they are in reality all planning to upgrade and enhance their nuclear weapons programmes in the coming years.

“It is the UK that should break the deadlock.

“Politicians going into the general election need to get off the fence and make it clear that they will not sink £100 billion of public money into yesterday’s weapons and will stand up for ordinary people and deliver on our longstanding disarmament commitments.”

peterlazenby@peoples-press.com