As military top brass, he is far from one of the usual suspects - but when it comes to Britain's nuclear weapons, he isn't mincing his words. This is how general Sir Hugh Beach, the former deputy commander-in-chief of UK land forces, sums up the UK's Trident missile system: "It's no bloody use. Let's not waste money on it."Beach says that the Trident nuclear submarines, based on the Clyde and armed with warheads, should not be replaced but immediately scrapped.
His call echoes demands from a series of other military leaders who want government action on nuclear disarmament. And it comes against a background of international moves to cut nuclear weapons stockpiles, initiated by the US president, Barack Obama.
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If one day the US becomes isolationist and pulls out of Nato then a Tridentless Britain would have no real nuclear defences against Russia. And Russia would rapidly become the the dominant nuclear and conventional force in Europe.
ReplyDeleteCommunist, Tsarist or Putanist Russia has a history of throwing its weight around when it is the strongest.
Pete