TRANSPORT union RMT called on the government today to work towards peace, promoting diplomatic solutions to current conflicts and preventing an escalation to nuclear war.

The wide-ranging motion, which was unanimously passed at the RMT AGM in Hull, noted Tory plans to radically increases arms expenditure and how the right to attend peace protests is being undermined, with activists being labelled “terrorist sympathisers.”

Speaking on the motion, Nigel Holden from Leicester and Rutland branch said: “It is repugnant we are spending money on arms when councils are going bankrupt and youth services in many cases no longer exist.”

Senior assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey gave a comprehensive address on the issue, citing the collapse of the Soviet Union and the military domination of the United States as key changes to the world’s balance of forces in recent decades. 

He said: “We saw a series of wars where the US sought to remake countries across the Middle East and Africa in its own image.

“Now we’re in a different period. In the last few years, it’s become apparent that there were other great powers in the world. 

“The rise of the China with its huge economy and population and greater and greater ability to build military resources.

“And then, of course, there is Russia, remilitarising and having the largest nuclear arsenal on the planet.

"We are now in a situation very similar to World War I, but with powerful nuclear-armed states.”

Mr Dempsey pointed out that the Doomsday Clock has moved to 90 seconds to midnight, which means that the world is the closest it has ever been to nuclear catastrophe. 

With the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East continuing to escalate, he warned: “All of these things could get out of hand very quickly. 

“We are so close to extreme war between major powers.

“It beggars belief that the political class and the press seem not to take any notice of this.”

Reiterating the union’s commitment to peace, Mr Dempsey said: “Trades unionists should always be on the side of peace and against war. 

“It always the working class that is asked to pick up the gun and die for their country.

“It is always the working class who suffer the most, who are turned into refugees, who see their livelihoods wrecked.

“War is disgusting. It is terrified children, it’s people fleeing and it’s big money for the big corporations.”