£167bn now

Attack and get your own back throwing nuclear bombs about..

If someone does fire one off and murders millions of innocent people is it right we do the same in return..

No one wins in nuclear wars its only the civilians that mostly suffer on the day and the aftermath for many many decades for example Christmas island between 1952-1962 Britain caused more than 40 nuclear explosions around Australia and the Pacific but Christmas island became a no go area and only recently people have started growing crops again its now back on the tourist map. But the British service men had no protective clothing and suffered greatly over the years. The last I read they were trying to get some sort of compensation from the government not sure if they did just over 20,000 servicemen at that time were exposed to these explosions . but there's only around 2,500 still alive today many of the people now dead suffered badly .

To be quite honest guys, if they start throwing these obnoxious things around then I hope that one lands on our house during Sunday lunch, with all the family around the table, I wouldn't wish to live in a world where folk have so little respect for their fellow man.   

Attack and get your own back throwing nuclear bombs about..

If someone does fire one off and murders millions of innocent people is it right we do the same in return..

You've absolutely no idea what the purpose of a deterrent is, do you? The fact that nobody did "throw these nuclear bombs about" is for exactly the reason that it is not right. It appears to have worked during the dangerous year, though, wouldn't you agree? After all, neither us, the USA nor the rest of Europe have actually had any chucked at us for that reason.

And UK has got rid of most of its capabilities. It simply maintains a submarine fleet to keep the deterrent going.

Nowadays we are far more aware of what these things can do so the likelihood of it happening has dimished considerably. It was a very real threat for 30 or 40 years and could still happen judging by the nutters that pop up now and again.

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - George Orwell

Sorry to enlighten you heph but we do live in a world where men have no respect for human life. Hence the need for the deterrent.

I like the Orwell quote. He was someone that understood the beast in men and life's harsh realities.

Pacificism has no place in government. It belongs where it began in the corridors of religious doctrine and among the utopian idealists, not the real world.

I accept your apology Micky, but then again you have much to apologise about. 

Babaol,

I have my views as do you .. I respect yours although I may not agree with them but that's the way life is ..

For and against have you read the part where I have mentioned the category B incidents x5 ..

What about the risks in having them on our doorstep in this case Faslane for the time being ..

Babaol,

I have my views as do you .. I respect yours although I may not agree with them but that's the way life is ..

For and against ..have you read the part where I have mentioned the category B incidents x5 ..

What about the risks in having them on our doorstep in this case Faslane for the time being ..

What about the nuclear power plants at Dungeness, Hinckley Point, Hartlepool or one of the other dozen or so stations around the UK? The big problems have not been a bit of leakage from a nuclear weapon but a leakage from a nuclear powered submarine and, the big ones, Fukishima, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and others have been from power plants, not missiles.

The K class US submarines have had leakage from their reactors, not from the nuclear weapons they carry.

I am sorry but I think that trident is a waste of money that could be better spent . Helping people with diabetes ( no more money to supply pumps) for type 1. Cancer care , autism , all the other illness that could be cured or controlled if the money was diverted to helping the British people. 

I am sorry but I think that trident is a waste of money that could be better spent . Helping people with diabetes ( no more money to supply pumps) for type 1. Cancer care , autism , all the other illness that could be cured or controlled if the money was diverted to helping the British people. 

JMWIL,

Don't be sorry for I agree with you but we care for our people who are struggling with life and not getting the treatment they deserve that money would be better saving our own people NOW with immediate effect.

As it is now we can't afford to provide  the care for our pensioners they really need..

The hospitals are at breaking point short staffed doctors nurses and carers...

We can prioritize this in a heartbeat with the money saved £167bn and rising and let's not forget £1-6 trillion in dept.

That's huge worse than Greece much worse.

JMWIL

As a lead researcher looking at potential cures and preventions for ailments its not a shortage of money, although give us more money and like goverments we will spend it. It's a shortage of high grade graduates in the sciences that we are short of. So I would say put the money into education if there is any spare.

Rossetti

Rossetti,

Following a long period of attempting to cope with the effects of rheumatoid arthritis by using a plethora of oral medications that were neither use nor ornament, my consultant rheumatoligist decided that my condition warranted a far more expensive injected drug, that required me failing a series of medical tests. The tests took place and as expected I failed them all, however the powers that be decided to move the goalposts to a position where I would have to be virtually wheelchair bound to qualify. 

As it happens the far cheaper 'pen' injections of Methotrexate appear to be keeping the swelling down. Now I class myself as being a very minor casuality of government cuts, but I really feel for those that are far more in need of seemingly 'unaffordable' medications, but then again we do have Trident don't we?   

I am sorry but I think that trident is a waste of money that could be better spent . Helping people with diabetes ( no more money to supply pumps) for type 1. Cancer care , autism , all the other illness that could be cured or controlled if the money was diverted to helping the British people.

Again another nice thought but in reality it would never work due to our leaders who would up their suit allowance / car allowance / pension funds and all the other things they could benefit by.

As a side issue the UK sends 12 billion on overseas aid...Yet it has been reported that it borrows this whole amount, so don't believe that any money saved on Trident would go to help the needy.

It’s naive in the extreme to think the costs of defending a nation can simply be switched to healthcare if Trident11 is not adopted. The defence budget is for what it says on the tin. In an ideal world if nuclear weapons were suddenly to become obsolete the costs would not be made available to other government departments. The government would simply be able to borrow less money and the national debt reduced.

Disarming the country would make the UK dependent on the US and France for its protection in the event of a major conflict. The UK would have no control or involvement in that and would suffer the ignominy of being a pawn in the war games.

Micky, I'm sure that  Rossetti advocated putting the Trident money into education, but as always I await your correction of what I believe to be the truth. 

But then again, you may be replying to me, who knows? 

Hep, it would be nice if the Trident money was put into Education but as it will keep highly skilled engineers employed designing and building the launch platform and all the necessary systems it might be money well spent. My point is that there seems to be a lack of skilled researchers in the science and medical disaplines in the UK. I work with a lot of talent on pharma and medical research and not many of them are from the UK.

Although off topic, it would be great if some of the defence and other spending by the Government was diverted to the science, maths and engineering disaplines in the form of enducation. I speak as a non european brought into leading advances in research into medical sciences of which most benefit will go to Swiss phara.

Rossetti

Well for me Norway doesn't want or need trident and yes they can easily afford to..

Most countries don't have trident.

Thank god for that but the ones that do have its worrying.