The Guardian’s editorial on the general election (The Tories run on fear and do not deserve our vote. Labour does because it offers hope, 3 June) was well argued. However, one word was conspicuous by its absence: Trident. That may be understandable if you want to avoid pointing to divisions within Labour. But it should not be avoided. Trident’s cheerleaders should be confronted, head-on, with confidence. The planned new Trident nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile system is estimated to cost more than £200bn over 30 years, a figure not contested by the Ministry of Defence, which declines to estimate its total cost. Jeremy Corbyn is bombarded with attacks on the BBC’s Question Time on the grounds that he refuses to say whether he would ever order the firing of a British nuclear weapon. No rational person would. Trident is not a credible deterrent. It is irrelevant in combating what political leaders and the security and intelligence agencies have said for years is by far the biggest threat to Britain’s security and will continue to be so for decades to come, a threat we have been reminded of so brutally over the last few weeks – namely, terrorism. Cyber “warfare” is the other main future threat.
The huge amounts of money wasted on Trident could be spent on Britain’s badly squeezed conventional forces, including aircraft and surface ships, on the security and intelligence agencies and the police, as well as on health, education, and social care. The skilled workforce currently devoted to nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed submarines could be diverted to building civil nuclear power plants for which Britain now seems to be dependent on French knowhow and Chinese finance.
Richard Norton-Taylor
London
• I’ve been a lifelong supporter of the UK’s nuclear deterrent, but these dreadful terrorist attacks now make me question its cost-effectiveness, if retaining it means we can’t afford more police on the streets and bollards to protect our citizens.
Don Macdonald
London
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters
