END ARMS TRADE - SCOTTISH GREENS JOIN VIGIL
Scottish Greens will today (16 April) highlight the Global Day of Action on Military Spending, joining a Campaign Against the Arms Trade vigil in Edinburgh.
The Scottish Greens, who are standing in the majority of Scotland's 59 seats, launched their manifesto two weeks ago with pledges of a £10 minimum wage for all ages by 2020, publicly-owned railways, opposition to the TTIP trade deal, and more powers for Scotland and local communities.
The manifesto calls for a foreign policy based on peace, a global deal on climate change and a halt to the arms trade.
Membership of the Scottish Greens has surged to almost 9,000. One in ten members is ex-Labour.
Scottish Green MSP Alison Johnstone said:
"The widespread opposition we've seen in Scotland to the renewal of Trident is symbolic of the desire to stop spending billions of pounds on military hardware while communities here and overseas suffer from poverty.
"We have a real opportunity to reskill military workers to address modern defence priorities, peacekeeping and humanitarian work. With more Green MPs there's more chance of diverting some of the UK's annual £43 billion military budget towards protecting our public services and creating good jobs in our communities."
Scottish Greens 2015 manifesto and candidates