The UK’s provocative aircraft carrier strike group set sail from Portsmouth on Saturday – a day earlier than announced, avoiding planned local protest. 

At a time when the NHS remains starved of resources, this voyage is a huge waste of money and a dangerous move which will make conflict with China more likely.

The aircraft carrier, which cost over £3 billion to build, will have up to 36 US F-35 fighter jets to fly off its decks. It forms the core of a flotilla with numerous escort vessels, a submarine, helicopters and a strike group company of some 1,600 personnel. The operating cost of the flotilla will be in the tens of billions.

CND has written an open letter to the Prime Minister objecting to the deployment, alongside activists, politicians and cultural figures.

As the flotilla enters the Pacific later this summer, we’ll be hosting an international protest rally – look out for further details.