Trident Is No Debt Cure for Britain

"In recent weeks, senior officials in the Pentagon have raised the alarm about the progress of Iran towards acquiring nuclear weapons capability. President Obama's conference on global nuclear security reminded us of the urgent need for action on safeguarding the world's nuclear materials to prevent terrorists or other non-state actors from obtaining nuclear weapons. And there remain financial incentives for rogue elements from international regimes to sell their knowledge for profit. So the danger that nuclear know-how will fall into the wrong hands is very real.

And yet this week, the man with the electoral momentum in Britain's election campaign is the one who proposes that the UK become the first major world power to relinquish its Trident nuclear weapons. How is this happening?

Of all the things in the three main parties' manifestos, this stands out for being the most outlandish and unrealistic. And in the debates, Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, also gave an extraordinary reason for it. He wants, he said, to scrap Britain's nuclear deterrent — Trident — in order to help reduce the national debt...."

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