In today's Times three top military brass including Field Marshall Lord Bramall and two retired generals - write that Trident is - to summarise - dangerous, expensive and useless. "Our independent deterrent has become virtually irrelevant except in the context of domestic politics," they write. This is the fundamental political point, but Labour and the Tories cannot deliver sensible policy because they are trapped in their self-imposed imperative to talk tough. Outside the Palace of Westminster reality has broken through. Inside, when will it? Which party will be first to break ranks and acknowledge the facts? Lib Dem MPs, are you listening? Read, read!
Did Nick Clegg endorse school vouchers or didn't he? Well, the evidence that he did is rather strong. Not only Rachel Sylvester in the Telegraph on 29 October but also self-confessed Clegg fan Jasper Gerard, writing up an “exclusive interview” in the Observer on 21 October, state that he did. Gerard writes, quoting Clegg: "'I want a sense of empowerment on a daily basis for people accessing health care and good education.' Well that's clear. But he differs from free marketeer Tories in that 'having lived in Europe and had children born in hospitals in Europe, they have a far greater sense of equity in health and education. It is not like a supermarket but the patient, pupil or parent has entitlements which the provider of services has to meet.' So according to his 'pupil premium', parents would be given a voucher to spend in their preferred school; but while a flaw in such schemes is often that the savvy middle class pack the best schools, Clegg ...
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Besides, senior military not liking nuclear weapons may, again, be right, but it's hardly news - is it on grounds of principle, strategy or simply because they'd rather have the money for their own forces? 'Yes, Prime Minister' spoofed that exact line 23 years ago!
But the truth is that we are always taking chances. There are plent of other risks, far more serious, inwhich we should be investing taxpayers money, global warming being the most important.
Given our WMD has no deterrence value at the moment, it is hard to imagine that our WMD will have any leverage whatsoever in international arms negotiations. Who will want to disarm their nuclear weapons at our behest?
The Lib Dem policy, whilst better than that of the Labour Tory party, is stall a nonsense
How can this expensive project be justified at a time of economic crisis and emerging threats to national security such as international terrorism, failed states, pandemic diseases and above all, climate change?
And does it really deliver genuine security for the UK?
The report has received the backing of many senior political and military figures, including former shadow defence secretary Michael Ancram, who wrote the report's forward, Lib Dem shadow chancellor Vince Cable, and Lord Ramsbotham, former Adjutant-General of Defence Management.
You can read a summary of the report’s findings at: http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/ITFLsummary
And the full report at http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/ITFL