IN THE past year both the Shadow and Government Defence ministers have assured us that they will continue with the New Trident nuclear weapons programme, now expected to cost approximately £100bn.

About 30 miles south of Oxford are two key sites for this programme and billions have already been spent ahead of a parliamentary agreement to go ahead with it. Aldermaston & Burghfield will develop into the second biggest UK building project after the Olympics.

With this development the UK will be breaking the Non-Proliferation Treaty and unilaterally re-arming, while refusing to enter into any of the multi-lateral conferences called by so many other countries.

To raise awareness of this risky and ruthless waste of resources, people all over the UK have been knitting lengths of scarves in many shades of pink, setting ourselves the challenge of linking the two nuclear factories on Nagasaki Day, August 9.

To mark this year’s 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, we joined scarves knitted by women in Bonn as well as women from all over Oxfordshire as a celebration of our twinning for peace and a determination to work locally, nationally and internationally, against more weapons of mass destruction.

Many passers-by joined us and the general feedback supported the polls that show that most people are tired of war and opposed to nuclear weapons. It’s time our politicians took notice.

Nuala Young, Tree Lane, Oxford

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Today’s letters