Part of the Trident: we don't buy it tour blog 
Our climbers are hanging off a crane with a banner reading "TONY HEART WMD", but it's not just Greenpeace that thinks that Blair’s plan to rush through a decision to replace Trident is immoral, unnecessary and plain wrong. From world leaders and religious figures to academics and scientists, here are some of the voices speaking out against the plan to replace Trident in tomorrow's vote:
"To replace Trident would make it more difficult to get arms reduction. It would also be a waste of money because there are no circumstances in which we would use it independently."
Professor Stephen Hawking
"They should not imagine that this will be accepted as compatible with the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty."
Kofi Annan on Tony Blair's policy
"Britain cannot expect other countries to refrain from acquiring nuclear weapons if it upgrades its trident nuclear weapons system."
Mohammed ElBaradei, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog
“How can this proposal really be justified in an utterly different post-Cold War environment?”
Michael Meacher MP
"Sixty years ago we invented a way to extinguish life on Earth at the touch of a button, which was one of the less impressive things human beings ever did... Now Tony Blair has the chance to leave an historic legacy to the world by making Britain the first UN Security Council member to say we no longer want or need these monstrous weapons... If he doesn't, he'll break international treaties and send an invitation to every nation on Earth to join the nuclear club."
Anita Roddick, founder of Body Shop
"I am extremely sceptical. Trident was an expensive weapons system developed in the Cold War to meet the conditions of the Cold War, which ended 17 years ago... It is still capable of functioning for about another 15 years. I think we have to take our security decisions on the basis of what are likely to be the main security threats in the future, rather than building weapons to fight the last war."
Charles Clarke
People will never accept the morality of “intrinsically indiscriminate” weapons.
The Archbishop of Canterbury
"I think the government is hastening into this decision before the facts are really available to it."
Richard Garwin, who worked on the design of the first hydrogen bomb
"The threat of using nuclear weapons is not only illogical but incredible and the need for genuinely independent alternative and flexible non-nuclear deterrence is if anything greater."
Former shadow defence secretary Michael Ancram
“Trident replacement is illegal, immoral and tragically ridiculous – and the expected slight reduction in the arsenal is not going to change that. This is a crucial economic, strategic and moral issue for Scotland and our voices must be heard. Scotland must resist a move which would make us a terrorist target, would create yet more nuclear waste, would be illegal and would give this country a key role in maintaining one of the most immoral and brutal features of 21st century politics.”
Chris Ballance Green MP
“This government will proceed with its warped priority of investing in weapons of mass destruction before bettering local services. Son of Trident would be a bad decision to match Blair’s determination to go to war in Iraq.”
Angus Robertson MP
"We pray that our MPs will make a stand for the principles of peace, and will have the courage to refuse to endorse a replacement for Trident... Peace cannot be advanced by the commissioning of new weapons of mass destruction."
Cardinal O'Brien and Rt Rev McDonald
“Deterrence is not a weapon – it’s an unproven theory, it’s a past doctrine... It’s essentially flawed.”
Peace campaigner Di McDonald
“We ought to try and get rid of the weapons we have through multi-lateral disarmament rather than encouraging proliferation through new investment in armaments.”
Malcolm Chisholm, MP
“We need to spend money on saving the planet, not on weapons that can help destroy it. The £25bn the government wants to spend on replacing Trident – and it could be three times that – could go a long way to helping Britain reduce carbon emissions, build some of the transport infrastructure we desperately need and to help bolster our public services.”
General Secretary of Rail Maritime and transport Union, Bob Crow
“I have expressed no reservations. I have concerns, and I think anybody sensible does”.
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett
Please email your MP today and tell them to vote for a nuclear-free future. Urge them to vote for maximizing the rebellion against the government's plans by backing the cross party amendment sponsored by John Trickett MP. This is a new amendment so even if you've already contacted your MP please do so again.
