Manchester could be a target for nuclear attack if conflict breaks out, say Disarmament Week campaigners.
Greater Manchester Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is calling on Manchester residents to campaign against the use of nuclear weapons, especially as arms manufacturer BAE Systems has bases in the region.
It is one of the only companies globally that can design and build nuclear submarines, and also produces the parts needed to build F-35 fighters.
CND said: “If there were to be any attacks… Greater Manchester and the North West are definitely going to be a target.”
Although Manchester is not making bombs, it is helping to make the machines that drop them.
In international disarmament week, CND is demanding disarmament – the reduction and then abolition of weapons leading to a commitment to abandon the use of force in international relations.
CND has worked closely with Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), an organisation with a mission to have:
‘The arms trade end… The people and institutions that support it stop causing suffering, death and destruction.’
The arms trade brought in £14.5 billion in 2023, according to the UK Defence and Security Exports.
20,000 UK jobs have been secured as Britain and Turkey sign the biggest fighter jet deal in a generation. The production and final assembly of the typhoons will happen at BAE Systems sites, said the UK Government.
But the CAAT website states that the arms trade only makes up 1.4% of the UK’s total yearly exports.
Disarmament week invites people to think about their views on the use of weapons, both nuclear and conventional.
The CND symbol, as pictured above, is now a universal peace symbol.
CND said: “People just have to drop us an email, send us a text, give us a ring. There’s lots of different ways people can get involved.”