Britain cannot afford to be without submarine-launched nuclear weapons

Ministers are considering the way forward as our Trident nuclear deterrent approaches the end of its life.

It is sometimes said that our nuclear deterrent is a waste of money because no British prime minister would ever dare to authorise its use.

But we should not seek to define the circumstances when the prime minister might take such a momentous decision, save with the hallowed words "when our supreme national interest so requires".

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