LETTER: Immoral arms race continues

Once again speeches are made about peace and unity and solidarity, with the families and friends, who are devastated by the loss of their young ones. Yet it is only two years since a similar event was held in Queens Square, for school children similarly targeted in Pakistan. Then we also lit candles and left flowers and expressed our shock and horror, that anyone could think that our children should be a legitimate target, for suicide bombers.

It is barely a week since we had the spectacle of the American President, Trump, crowing about his wonderful success, at selling billions of dollars of weapons, to the despotic and undemocratic regime, in Saudi Arabia. Huge numbers of jobs secured for Americans, but those jobs come at a, blood stained, cost. Every bomb, every bullet, every missile, will take away the life of a mother, a father, a sister, a brother and yes, another innocent child, who has yet to live their life.

And this country is just as guilty. In 2015 the UK sold £900 million worth of weapons, to Saudi Arabia. Where, when and against whom, will they be used? Britain is now the second biggest arms dealer, in the world! £7.7 billion in 2015.

We talk a lot about national defence and spending £100 billion, on renewing our nuclear, so-called, deterrent. Yet how can we defend ourselves against the lone, mentally deranged killer, from within our own community, who has no right, or justification, to call himself a member, of any religion?

As long as the immoral arms race continues, as long as we continue to disgracefully destabilise countries for profit, as long as we continue to interfere militarily, in areas of conflict, without the backing of the United Nations, then I can only see many more outpourings of grief, to come, as there has been this week, in any and every country of the world.

Surely the human race is capable of so much more than this.

Cllr Sue Mullins

West Sussex County Council (Lab, Northgate and West Green)

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