Now's the time to act against Trident

Tomorrow Reading will see the launch of a new grass-roots campaign to halt nuclear weapons production at Atomic Weapons Establishments (AWEs) Aldermaston and Burghfield.

Action Atomic Weapons Eradication aims to co-ordinate groups and individuals to organise action at both sites, alerting the nation to the huge danger that government plans to renew the Trident nuclear weapons programme represent.

Now is the time to act. In 2016 the British government wants to finalise the decision to build a new nuclear weapons system. The estimated cost is £76-100 billion.

If Trident is renewed production will take place at Aldermaston and Burghfield, which have a dismal safety record. Fires, explosions, radiation leaks and flooding that the emergency services have struggled to maintain have all taken place. The corrosion of steel structures at an enriched uranium components plant at Aldermaston has forced that unit to close.

Redirecting these billions could prevent key public-sector cuts. Aside from that replacing Trident undermines international law - it breaches the commitment to nuclear disarmament that all signatory nuclear weapons states made under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon made the point in January: "Delay comes with a high price-tag. The longer we procrastinate, the greater the risk that these weapons will be used, will proliferate or be acquired by terrorists.

"But our aim must be more than keeping the deadliest of weapons from 'falling into the wrong hands.' There are no right hands for wrong weapons. Nuclear deterrence is not a solution to international peace and stability. It is an obstacle."

It's not just Ban who's frustrated with the nuclear states. The majority of non-nuclear countries are now actively campaigning for an international treaty to ban all nukes.

They are joined by many international non-governmental organisations, such as the Red Cross. Next month there'll be an international conference in Oslo on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons alongside a forum hosted by the International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons.

But we need a massive movement, including non-violent direct action, to shift the stance of the nuclear states. Already the bad example of the original five (the US, Russia, Britain, France and China) has encouraged Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea to obtain these weapons. This trend will continue.

Those nine countries together spent over $100bn (£66bn) on nuclear weapons in 2011. As Ban has stated, disarmament cannot be separated from other challenges the world faces - "the world spends more on the military in one month than it does on development all year.

"Four hours of military spending is equal to the total budgets of all international disarmament and non-proliferation organisations combined.

"Bloated military budgets promote proliferation, derail arms control, doom disarmament and detract from social and economic development.

"The profits of the arms industry are built on the suffering of ordinary people in Mali, Syria, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the foot of the pyramid are small arms, at the top nuclear weapons."

In Britain thousands of responsible people have joined campaigns such as Trident Ploughshares and Faslane 365 to galvanise public opposition to Trident.

These have succeeded to the extent that the SNP has promised to ban all nuclear weapons from Scotland if the country votes for independence.

It's important that we now focus on the English dimension - the AWEs at Aldermastion and Burghfield.

Action AWE is planning a range of peaceful disarmament actions, including anti-nuclear resistance songs sung by choirs in Reading, Newbury and Basingstoke - the three towns closest to the bomb factories - in April and June, a two-week disarmament camp at Burghfield from August 26 to September 7 and a seven-mile long anti-militarist pink scarf to stretch from Aldermaston to Reading.

Now's the time for all of us to get involved.

• For more information visit www.ActionAWE.org.