We can afford billions for wars & nukes but cannot produce gowns for our hospitals

What can we say about a country called United Kingdom that still thinks of itself as a global power, sends soldiers to fight and aircraft to bomb in other countries, and is planning to spend between £71.4 billion and £140.5 billion for a new nuclear weapons system but fails to produce or supply gowns and PPE’s to its hospitals in a time of disease crisis (relying on the mercy of Turkey and China) with its doctors and nurses despairing to such an extent that they threaten to stop treating patients?

Read about it and amaze yourselves. On 30 November 2018, under the title “Report: How much does the UK spend on nuclear weapons?“, an independent human security and arms control consultant, writer and founding director of NATO Watch, Dr Ian Davis, wrote:

“The recent parliamentary and expert discussions of financial costs of British nuclear weapons have taken place within the wider political context of austerity and cuts to public spending. In July 2016, the House of Commons backed the renewal of the UK’s Trident nuclear weapon system by 472 votes to 117.

“This report draws upon a mixture of publicly available data and estimates in order to outline both the current operating costs of the Trident nuclear weapon system, as well as the estimated costs of the current plans to renew the UK’s nuclear arsenal.

“Report highlights:

• The UK Government expects future operating costs to remain at 5-6 percent of the defence budget through to 2021.
• Over the 30-year lifetime of a new system that enters into service in 2031, total In-service costs could range between £71.4 billion and £140.5 billion.
• The Infrastructure and Projects Authority has rated the Dreadnought programme Amber/Red, meaning that: “Successful delivery of the project is in doubt, with major risks or issues apparent in a number of key areas.”
• Acquisition costs of Britain’s Trident nuclear weapon system amounted to £18.35 billion (in 2015-16 prices) incurred between 1980 and 1998″.