Peace on Earth, goodwill to all and time to cut Trident

Without attempting to begin a Christmas message promoting peace and goodwill towards all men - it has certainly been an eventful year, where for many positive change has finally come, as people rise up and occupy, to confront both the dictators and the elected leaders that have failed them.

Closer to home and to the grassroots, UK Uncut has taken action time and time again to highlight alternatives to the government’s spending cuts, finally catching the media’s attention with a damning report from the public accounts committee.

Tax dodgers aside, the UK is still set to spend a whopping £97 billion on a new Trident nuclear weapons system [pdf]. Something that won’t be making it onto many Christmas lists, when even senior military officials would prefer to get something that meets the UK's defence needs.

So what has convinced the government to persist in such a useless waste of money, while critical public services are being cut? Perhaps the prime minister David Cameron has been watching too much of the late night shopping channel:

Or maybe the chancellor George Osborne has been doing some last minute Christmas shopping down at the local market:

Or, more likely, the defence secretary Phillip Hammond has been conned by a smooth talking door to door salesmen.

Whatever the rationale, after a year of political manoeuvring and Lib Dem let-downs, Trident still doesn’t appear to be on the government’s cuts agenda, and we have quietly slipped closer to ensuring another three decades of nuclear weapons in the UK.

So if you're composing your own Christmas message, then please include the above videos and all of our wishes for a society that preserves its public services, strong environmental laws and scraps these dangerous relics of the cold war.

The above videos were created for Don't buy it - a WMD awareness project. Please help distribute these videos via Facebook, Twitter and email.

If you'd like to do more then please sign the Global Zero declaration - and encourage your friends and family to do likewise.

Finally if you'd like to keep in touch with Greenpeace's peace and disarmament network then please join our online group, and check back often.