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Money should go on health and education instead, survey finds The public wants Britain to scrap the Trident nuclear missile system but believes spending on health and education should rise each year, according to a ComRes poll for The Independent. By a margin of 58 to 35 per cent, people believe that the £25bn renewal of the Trident programme should be abandoned because of the state of the public finances. The finding will strengthen the hand of ministers who are pressing Gordon Brown to cancel or delay the scheme as Labour prepares to unveil public spending cuts.

The UK's decision to renew its Trident nuclear deterrent is seen by some foreign states as a contradiction of its non-proliferation stance, MPs say. The Commons foreign affairs committee urged the government to "intensify its public diplomacy work... to explain the reasons for the renewal decision". However, the MPs went on to praise the UK's arms control record as the best of the five global nuclear powers. CND welcomed the report, but renewed its call not to replace Trident.

In the Cold War, Trident was a deterrent. In the War on Terror it is irrelevant. The money would be better spent elsewhere Trident survives. The most severe defence spending review in history - searching for savings of almost £40 billion - ignored the £20 billion that is to be spent on a nuclear weapon that will be redundant before it comes into service. The generals, as has so often been the case, are planning to fight the last war. And the politicians, who must have noticed that the world has changed during the past ten years, endorse the military judgment for reasons that have nothing to do with national security.

In the Cold War, Trident was a deterrent. In the War on Terror it is irrelevant. The money would be better spent elsewhere Trident survives. The most severe defence spending review in history - searching for savings of almost £40 billion - ignored the £20 billion that is to be spent on a nuclear weapon that will be redundant before it comes into service. The generals, as has so often been the case, are planning to fight the last war. And the politicians, who must have noticed that the world has changed during the past ten years, endorse the military judgment for reasons that have nothing to do with national security.

It's good news that President Obama has kicked back the Pentagon's "timid" proposals for a new nuclear posture review in favour of a radical rewrite (Barack Obama ready to slash US nuclear arsenal, 21 September). Breaking out of the "more of the same" approach is key to making progress towards abolition. It was disappointing, then, to read David Miliband's comments, pushing attention off on to Iran and North Korea, as usual (New nuclear resolve, 21 September). Perhaps this isn't surprising when you consider that the UK's nuclear policy remains the replacement of Trident - a cold war system with no conceivable military use, and irrelevant to our contemporary security needs. But the population has noticed that the world has changed even if the government hasn't - a significant majority now opposes Trident replacement.

It's good news that President Obama has kicked back the Pentagon's "timid" proposals for a new nuclear posture review in favour of a radical rewrite (Barack Obama ready to slash US nuclear arsenal, 21 September). Breaking out of the "more of the same" approach is key to making progress towards abolition. It was disappointing, then, to read David Miliband's comments, pushing attention off on to Iran and North Korea, as usual (New nuclear resolve, 21 September). Perhaps this isn't surprising when you consider that the UK's nuclear policy remains the replacement of Trident - a cold war system with no conceivable military use, and irrelevant to our contemporary security needs. But the population has noticed that the world has changed even if the government hasn't - a significant majority now opposes Trident replacement.

Britain's nuclear submarines are "completely useless" against modern warfare, and the £20bn spent on renewing them is a waste of money, retired senior military officers said yesterday. The former head of the armed forces Field Marshal Lord Bramall, backed by two senior generals, argued that the huge sums being spent on replacing the delapidated submarines that carry the Trident ballistic missiles could be better used to buy conventional weapons which are badly needed by the armed forces. "Nuclear weapons have shown themselves to be completely useless as a deterrent to the threats and scale of violence we currently face or are likely to face, particularly international terrorism," the group said in a letter to the Times. "Our independent deterrent has become ­virtually irrelevant, except in the context of domestic politics."

THE cost of a replacement for Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent could reach £97 billion, environmentalist group Greenpeace has warned. In a new report, Greenpeace suggested the procurement of submarines and missiles could reach about £34bn - around double the £15-£20bn estimate cited by ministers - while running costs could eat up as much as 6 per cent of the Ministry of Defence budget. The report also predicted the Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers would cost £5bn to build, compared to the latest official estimate of £3.9bn.

Britain's lack of clarity on the future of the Trident missile system is helping to aid nuclear proliferation, an influential committee of MPs has said. Refusals by Iran to stop its uranium enrichment programme and North Korea's insistence it will weaponise its plutonium stocks are down in part to no commitment from the UK to disarm, the foreign affairs committee said. The committee said the group of five recognised nuclear powers had "failed to live up to its nuclear disarmament commitments". "We commend the steps that the government has taken to scale down and de-escalate the UK's nuclear arsenal," MPs wrote. "We welcome the prime minister's announcement that the new Trident submarines are to carry fewer missiles than the current boats, and we recommend that the government should do more to highlight this and other nuclear disarmament steps which it has taken."

A huge crane poses the biggest risk of a nuclear disaster at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde, according to newly released safety assessments by the Ministry of Defence. Plutonium from up to 48 nuclear warheads could escape and cause widespread contamination and cancers if there was an accident while a Trident submarine was being moved by the crane - known as a shiplift' - the reports say. But the MoD has been accused by experts and anti-nuclear campaigners of playing down the real dangers. The amounts and risks of the radioactivity that could be released have been underestimated, they say. The shiplift at Faslane is a unique facility with a chequered history. Set up in 1993, it uses nearly 100 winches to hoist the 16,000-tonne Vanguard-class submarines into the air for maintenance while they remain loaded with up to 48 Trident nuclear warheads. The shiplift had to be modified in 1997, and in 2003 a report by consultants suggested accident risks had been underestimated. Regarded by some as Faslane's most hazardous operation, there have been hints it may end up being replaced by the kind of dry dock used elsewhere.

Concern over the U.S. strategic nuclear stockpile, illustrated by problems with a classified material called "Fogbank," has triggered quiet maneuverings on Capitol Hill related to negotiations to extend the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. That treaty expires at year's end. "Fogbank" plays a key part in the W-76, the nuclear warhead on the Navy's Trident II sub-launched intercontinental ballistic missile and the country's most numerous and important strategic nuclear weapons. Initially deployed in 1978, about 3,000 were produced with a planned 30-year life. In 2000, planning began for refurbishing about 2,000 W-78 warheads under the ongoing life-extension program being used to upgrade existing U.S. nuclear systems.

"Hundreds of peace activists from across the UK will try to blockade a nuclear weapons site where warheads for the Trident submarines are made. Organisations including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament are staging the protest at the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston, Berkshire on Monday."

"Nearly three-quarters of opinion formers in Britain think the government should either scrap the country's nuclear weapons or look for a cheaper alternative, according to a poll published on Tuesday. Just under a third of business leaders, politicians, academics and journalists polled by YouGov for the Chatham House think tank said Britain should abandon its nuclear deterrent after it expires in 2024. This is higher than a fifth of ordinary voters polled by YouGov who want to scrap it. The replacement of Britain's submarine-launched Trident missile system is expected to cost at least 20 billion pounds, a sum critics say is unthinkable at a time of drastic spending cuts pushed by Prime Minister David Cameron."

Eleven people have been charged after a demonstration at the UK's nuclear weapons production site. The protest began early on Monday at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Aldermaston, Berkshire. One man and 10 women are accused of causing a wilful obstruction of the highway. They are due to appear before magistrates in June and July. AWE provides and maintains warheads for Trident, the UK's submarine-launched nuclear missile system.

The high alert levels for U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear forces are more political statements carried over from the Cold War than military necessities for the 21st century, according to a multinational study released last week. The two nations "could examine how measures to reduce operational readiness can accompany the bilateral arms control process" as part of the current negotiations over renewal of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, according to the study by the EastWest Institute, a nonprofit think tank. The study, "Reframing Nuclear De-Alert: Decreasing the Operational Readiness of U.S. and Russian Nuclear Arsenals," was supported by the governments of Switzerland and New Zealand governments. The study reminds readers that the United States "keeps roughly 1,000 nuclear warheads on alert" atop 450 Minuteman III land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and on the submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) aboard as many as four Trident subs patrolling in different parts of the world.

The high alert levels for U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear forces are more political statements carried over from the Cold War than military necessities for the 21st century, according to a multinational study released last week. The two nations "could examine how measures to reduce operational readiness can accompany the bilateral arms control process" as part of the current negotiations over renewal of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, according to the study by the EastWest Institute, a nonprofit think tank. The study, "Reframing Nuclear De-Alert: Decreasing the Operational Readiness of U.S. and Russian Nuclear Arsenals," was supported by the governments of Switzerland and New Zealand governments. The study reminds readers that the United States "keeps roughly 1,000 nuclear warheads on alert" atop 450 Minuteman III land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and on the submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) aboard as many as four Trident subs patrolling in different parts of the world.

"Easter 1958: some 10,000 people marched from London to the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Aldermaston to protest against Britain's first hydrogen bomb tests. Fast forward to the Easter weekend this year and people have come together from across Britain - some of whom protested in the original march - to participate in the 50th anniversary event. Rowenna Davis, interested to find out whether anti-nuclear campaigners are 'noble or naive', went along for the ride The snow didn't stop them coming. Half a century since the first march to Aldermaston in 1958, members of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament were going back to the base to protest against the government's plans to renew Trident, the UK's nuclear weapons system. And this time I was going with them. As a general rule, anti-nuclear protesters are considered to be the most unrealistic of all campaigners - and I wanted to see for myself whether they were noble or naive. "

The decision by the government to sell its one-third ownership to a Californian engineering company means that the United States will now produce and maintain Britain's independent nuclear deterrent, including the production of warheads for Tridents and its planned successor. It is not known how much the deal raised - but Tories and Liberal Democrats said they feared the stake had been sold off below market value to California-based Jacobs Engineering to raise money for the Treasury in straitened times.

A GRANDMA for peace was arrested yet again after protesting against weapons of mass destruction. Veteran campaigner Joan Meredith, 79, from Malpas, was taking part in the CND/Trident Ploughshares Big Blockade at the Aldermaston nuclear plant in Berkshire when she was arrested on Monday last week. She was later charged with obstructing the highway. She has been ordered to appear at Reading court on December 12.

Defence Secretary John Hutton said he was committed to keeping nuclear weapons in Scotland during his first visit to Faslane in his new post. Mr Hutton said the naval base on the Clyde, which is home to the Trident nuclear submarine fleet, was a "vital part of our country's defence." First Minister Alex Salmond wants to rid Scotland of nuclear weapons.

A new nuclear arms race has been entirely predictable. The Russian announcement (The Herald, September 27) that they plan to upgrade their nuclear space defence and build new nuclear submarines armed with cruise missiles is what was expected in response to the US decision to install new "missile shield" bases in Poland and the Czech Republic. And part of this scenario is the Blair/Brown decision to initiate a Trident renewal programme, committing us to a nuclear weapons programme for another 50 years.