Trident submarine renewal a matter of national security, ex-military chiefs warn

LONDON (ShareCast) - A group of former defence chiefs have said that a failure to renew Trident (BSE: TRIDENT.BO - news) submarines, the UK's nuclear deterrent, could jeopardise national security, according to a letter to The Times. The 20 signatories, including two retired defence secretaries and two ex-GCHQ directors, warned that abandoning Britain's Trident programme would put the UK significantly behind the world's nuclear weapons power and argued that if anything, the UK should stand ready to invest more in nuclear defences.

"To abandon Trident now and for good in the hope that no threat will emerge would be to take an enormous gamble on behalf of generations not yet born," they said.

Both Labour and the Conservatives have committed to renewing all four Trident submarines if they win the election, while the Liberal Democrats and UKIP have said they would consider cutting back to three.

Meanwhile the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party would favour scrapping the scheme entirely.

The UK has made reductions in its nuclear arsenal in line with cuts, as polls indicate more public demand for investment in the NHS, immigration control and tax-evasion crackdowns.

"In an uncertain world where some powers are now displaying a worrying faith in nuclear weapons as an instrument of policy and influence, it would be irresponsible folly to abandon Britain's own independent deterrent," the letter concluded.

The Coalition Government has postponed the main decision to construct the next wave of Trident submarines until 2016.