YouGov poll shows Scots say No to Trident replacement

Health and education budgets would gain

The SNP has today welcomed a new poll showing that the majority of Scots agree that the UK should give up nuclear weapons.

The YouGov poll for the Times shows, that when Dont Knows are removed, 53 per cent of people in Scotland want to see an end to nuclear weapons, while only one fifth say they want to see the UK replace Trident with an equally powerful nuclear missile system.

Also, the polling highlights that across the nations and regions of the UK, when ‘Don’t Knows’ are removed, over two thirds believe the Trident system should be downgraded or scrapped.

Commenting, Angus Robertson MP said: This poll shows that a clear majority of people in Scotland with an opinion do not want a replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons system – and agree with the SNP that the UK should give up nuclear weapons.

It also reveals how unpopular nuclear weapons are across the UK – when Dont Knows are removed, 68 per cent agree that Trident should be downgraded or scrapped.

“If we deliver a strong team of SNP MPs at the General Election, an absolute priority will be getting Trident renewal halted. And the more MPs we get elected, the greater the chances of holding the balance of power and achieving the end of Trident, which will free up enormous resources.

“The real cost of Trident is far greater than 20 billion: the cost of Trident renewal is some 3 billion a year, rising to 4 billion in the 2020s with the lifetime cost of up to 100 billion.

The NHS and education, including childcare, are our first calls for where this money could be far more productively spent – and the SNP will set out what could be achieved for health care and children in Scotland with our share of the Trident money

“This election is about big choices, and people in Scotland can achieve big changes by voting SNP. As a weapons system designed for the Cold War, the case for Trident is non-existent in , and it will be utterly unlamented if we are successful in getting rid of it

“No sensible UK Government would develop a nuclear weapons capability now if one didn’t exist. Therefore, a strong group of SNP MPs in a hung parliament, working with other progressive political forces, can bring sanity to bear now – and halt Trident renewal in its tracks.”

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http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/ksx1tw2rj8/TimesResults_150126_Trident_Website.pdf