THE UK should be ‘investing in hope’ instead of renewing Trident, according to Inverclyde’s MP.

Ronnie Cowan blasted the decision to spend £31 billion replacing Britain’s nuclear weapons system during a five-hour debate in the House of Commons on Monday.

MPs voted by 472 to 117 in favour of the renewing the nuclear deterrent.
Polling indicates that Scots appear evenly divided on the issue, but all bar one of the country’s elected representatives voted against renweal.

Mr Cowan, who joined all his SNP colleagues in voting against Trident, says the money would be better spent on health, education, housing, transport and social welfare.

He said: “We are locked in our Cold War mentality of maintaining weapons to counter threats that do not exist, telling ourselves that an imminent threat could emerge at any time. Spending billions on Trident renewal is paying a ransom to past fears when we should be investing in a hopeful future.

“The generations to come shall reap what we sow.

“I fear that if we continue down this road we may never be able to find our way back to a safe haven.”

Mr Cowan also criticised claims from those in favour of Trident that it will act as a deterrent and make the world a safer place.

He said: “The primary factor in establishing peace in an increasingly globalised world is the linked economic interests of nations, not the imminent threat of nuclear attack.

“To say the world is safer because of nuclear weapons is akin to saying that there would be less gun crime in the United States if there were more firearms.”