You say disarmament, I say renewal

[studentmadwife80]

Why is it when the USA and Russia do something amazing, a pledge to reduce nuclear weapons, does our government refuse to mention, during budget announcements, the almost £100billion on renewing nuclear weapons. Surely all the closures to the NHS, increased classroom sizes, unemployment, and university costs could all be aided if we followed suit and saved this money.

Nuclear weapons are the reason our troops originally went to Irag, hello they were in our backyard all along!!
Surely everyone here can think of a million, if not 100 billion better things to spend that money on!

Both Brown and Cameron want Trident renewal, but Clegg doesn't! Maybe we need to make sure Labour and Tories know we don't want these weapons either!!

Yes, they want to replace Trident.
check this out
www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/sep/18/trident-replacement-hidden-cost-revealed

But smw80, you imply that we are rearming at an increased level. That isn't so, as far as I can see?

We have signed the NPT, which means we are supposed to be eliminating our nuclear weapons, not building new ones. If we build a new bomb we would be sticking two fingers up to the rest of the world saying one rule for you and one rule for us.

'I am quoting Mr Ancram, with reference to being detectable in the future, and Im afraid his word is much more crediable than yours.'

Mr Ancram, with all due respect to him, is not married to a nuclear submariner, like I am, and who has been at the hot end frequently. I talk to the professionals about things like this; those who do the job. Quote and link please.

As to the NPT, we are not creating new weapons, we are using existing technology, and are not rearming at a greater level than before.

Katherine - the whole point is that you can't just 'strap them to jets', they are submarine launched, and wouldn't as I understand it, work if dropped from a jet.

Well I'm afraid you have just fallen victim to your own point scary teacher. If army are not wanting trident cause it's not for the army, then you, married to a nuclear submariner, are only speaking for the navy..... Turf war I think you called it?

Personally I have more ties to the navy then anything else and I don't want Trident replacement. Think your arguments past, present and future are all biased and not valid!

'Well I'm afraid you have just fallen victim to your own point scary teacher. If army are not wanting trident cause it's not for the army, then you, married to a nuclear submariner, are only speaking for the navy..... Turf war I think you called it?'

How have I fallen victim to anything? I have said all along that I am married to a nuclear submariner (but not on Trident boats), and that db is one as well. Regardless of the fact I am married to someone in the RN, I think we should retain Trident for the reason it is a strategic weapon, and that over the course of my life time, MAD has been proven to work. When dh retires in 4 years, I will still think we should keep Trident.

It is not a nice world out there; it is not pink and fluffy and people do not live in peace, joy and harmony, holding hands. There are people who hate our way of life and wish to destabilise and destroy that. I don't believe in putting all the eggs in one basket, I prefer to ensure that all the bases are covered; that there are contingency plans in place, and that in the final analysis we can defend ourselves to the nth degree.

What you are talking about is planning for now, and the next conflict. I am saying that we have to look beyond that and plan for the conflict 20/30 years down the line. We need to do that NOW. Defence procurement takes a long time, you can't just whack out tanks/ships/jets like you can cars for instance.

The nuclear deterrent is something that makes people think and consider their actions. If we do x, they might do y and the game isn't then worth playing, as the odds have changed. As long as the UK government are prepared to use Trident, then a balance of power and peace is maintained.

The Ancrum link please?