Independent - Not in their name!

2.04.43pm GMT Thu 15th Feb 2007

No New Trident logo

The Independent carries a story today about 100 scientists, lawyers, church leaders, actors, writers and MPs that are today demanding a halt to the rush by Tony Blair towards a replacement for Britain's Trident nuclear weapon system. Some go further and come out against replacing Trident altogether. A selection of quotes are below:

Professor Hawking said " Nuclear war remains the greatest danger to the survival of the human race. To replace Trident would make it more difficult to get arms reduction and increase the risk. It would also be a complete waste of money because there are no circumstances in which we would use it independently."

Jon Trickett, the Labour MP and chairman of the Compass group of MPs, compared the haste over a decision on the Trident replacement with the " dodgy dossier" before the rush to war on Iraq. "Some may be convinced that Trident needs to be replaced but this process is totally false," he said. "I hope this will electrify MPs. We have a significant part of the cultural, political, religious and military establishment signed up to this statement."

Sir Richard Jolly "Britain's military spending is already the second highest in the world. More spending on nuclear submarines will only make the world more dangerous. We need to invest in diplomacy, the only solution."

Vivienne Westwood: "Nuclear bombs are not a deterrent. Are we seriously saying we would be prepared to inflict nuclear war on the already suffering people of the planet? Tony Blair doesn't want to go down in history - he wants to go down with history."

Ken Livingstone "The Cold War is long over. The great challenge of the 21st century will be to prevent catastrophic climate change. Rather than wasting billions on new weapons of mass destruction, Britain should demonstrate real world leadership by investing in a radical programme to cut carbon emissions."

Helena Kennedy QC "Nuclear missiles are the ultimate weapons of mass destruction and, for me, renewal is a moral question. As international law makes clear, a nuclear strike cannot make distinctions between combatants and non-combatants - so innocent civilians face death, irradiation, burns, cancers, destruction of their environment and fallout on neighbouring states - the whole vista is too terrible to contemplate."