It is with great pleasure that I present a petition on behalf of 450 constituents from the Isle of Arran who are opposed to the replacement of Trident nuclear weapons. The petition was collected only over the past few days. I understand that those who organised the petition decided less than a week ago that they wanted to make their views and those of their neighbours known to the House because they were aware of tomorrow’s debate and the proposal that we should replace Trident nuclear weapons.
The petition states:
The petitioners request that the House of Commons urges the Government to scrap the trident nuclear missile system and abandon plans for update or replacement.
The fact that 450 signatures were collected in such a short time and in such a small community—almost 10 per cent. of the population signed the petition—shows the strength of feeling about the issue on Arran, in the rest of my constituency and, I believe, in the whole of Scotland, where the vast majority of people are saying that they do not want Trident replaced, or nuclear weapons to be based in Scotland.
To lie upon the Table.