ANTI-NUCLEAR weapons campaigners will protest against new plans for 12 extra attack submarines and £15 billion on nuclear warheads at Devonport Dockyard on Saturday.

Defence Secretary John Healey pointed to Britain’s nuclear arsenal as he signalled plans to make a “bigger contribution” to Nato after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer unveiled the plans in the new strategic defence review on Monday.

Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte is thought to be pushing for allies to commit to spending 3.5 per cent on the military, with leaders from the alliance to discuss a total 5 per cent spending target by 2035 in The Hague later this month.

Activists calling for a rethink of the nuclear expansion will gather at the nuclear naval base dockyard to hit out at the billions in public funds being poured into the arms company Babcock that manages the site while the surrounding area suffers with social deprivation twice the national average.

The protest by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and Plymouth residents comes after a recent demonstration at the office of local MP and armed forces minister Luke Pollard. He has now agreed to meet them.

CND general secretary Sophie Bolt said: “The nuclear dangers at bases like Devonport, with ongoing radioactive leaks, show that nuclear weapons do not keep us safe. 

“On the contrary, building more nuclear weapons will only make the risk of them being used even higher. 

“The terrible levels of deprivation here also expose the lie that spending billions on militarism and nuclear weapons is good for the economy.”

Plymouth resident and CND vice-chairman Tony Staunton said: “We have years of work at the Shipyard to oversee the dismantling of older nuclear submarines and making their toxic legacy safe.”