THOUSANDS of protesters will spectacularly encircle the Ministry of Defence today against a £100 billion renewal of Britain’s nuclear submarines — as scientists warn that the threat of a holocaust is at its highest for decades.

The mass Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) demo will be surrounding the building with a seven mile-long scarf, which has been knitted by thousands of volunteers from around the world as part of their Wrap Up Trident campaign ahead of this year’s general election.

The new government will make a final decision on Trident replacement next year, and CND general secretary Kate Hudson predicted yesterday that it would become a “huge election issue.”

The stakes have been raised ahead of the rally by atomic scientists in Washington DC who on Thursday turned the symbolic Doomsday Clock forward from five to three minutes before “midnight” — not seen since 1984 at the height of the cold war.

Only once, in 1953, has the clock hit two minutes.

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists blamed a combination of nuclear weapons renewal including Britain’s programme, slowing disarmament and climate change.

Post-cold war “optimism has essentially evaporated in the face of two trends — sweeping nuclear weapons modernisation programmes and a disarmament machinery that has ground to a halt,” said science and security board member Sharon Squassoni.

Campaigners faced a setback this week when MPs voted overwhelmingly to keep Trident renewal on track.

Ms Hudson said Tuesday’s vote betrayed “the gulf between Westminster and the British public.”

Polls last year put the electorate’s opposition to the plans as high as 79 per cent, but just 37 MPs backed the non-binding Scottish National Party motion to scrap the scheme.

Around 250 abstained.

Ms Hudson said: “People are sick of being told there’s no money for public services while seeing billions squandered on a weapon which provides nothing but the illusion of security and simply encourages the vicious circle of nuclear proliferation worldwide.”

Catherine Bann, whose local knitting group in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, contributed pieces of the scarf, said: “I’m glad that we’re taking the scarf to London, demonstrating the creativity of so many people in the face of such wanton destruction.

“The majority of the British public now oppose Trident renewal. Politicians ignored us over Iraq, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians and making the world a more dangerous place.We won’t let them ignore us again.

“There seems to be a media blackout of anti-Trident demonstrations. Maybe by taking it to the seat of power we can change that.”

The demonstration assembles at 12pm outside the MoD, followed by a march at 1.45pm past Parliament to Old Palace Yard.