Trident: Philip Hammond announces new nuclear weapon deals

Conservative ministers are pushing ahead with the full-scale replacement of Britain’s nuclear weapons, as a report reveals the extent of work under way to build a new fleet of submarines loaded with Trident missiles.

Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, will announce that hundreds of millions of pounds has been spent so far, with thousands of people already at work on the programme to construct the new submarines, despite opposition from Nick Clegg.

The scale of the ongoing work demonstrates that the Tories are committed to the “vital” policy of maintaining a round-the-clock nuclear deterrent, government sources said.

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