Our economy is in a sick state.  Public debt is our cancerous growth which threatens to make us the sick man of Europe again.

As we review costs, maybe now is the time to review Trident and for OUR Party to place this on the Political Agenda.  But not for cost reasons…for political reasons…..(although saving £76 billion is a nice slice off the national debt, to go with the £45 billion for the ID Card Scheme).

Barack Obama has called for a nuclear proliferation summit for Spring 2010.  The language is softer…the goals clear.

Yes our goal must be to reduce nuclear weapons to the barest minimum but we reduce by ‘collective action’ and not unilaterally.  No unilateral cuts in our submarines or 160 warheads but that does not mean we cant discuss upgrade & cost reduction.

Obama is offering the world real cuts in nuclear stockpiles.  Russia and the USA have already agreed fresh reductions.  Obama says any future deals would involve nuclear powers reducing their stockpiles and offering civilian nuclear know-how to non-nuclear states in return for them promising not to develop nuclear weapons. 

Russia’s biggest concern is the missile defence system that Reagan started, in Europe, aka ‘Star Wars’.  Providing Europe and the USA the umbrella of defence against attack.  Initially attack was deemed to come from the Soviet Union / Russia but now that threat is defined as from rogue nuclear nations, typically Iran.  Now this is a fascinating game of brinkmanship.  Obama says to Russia, help us stop Iran getting nuclear weapons and there is no need for our missile defence system.  Clever.  (But of course Iran is not the only rogue state. Don’t forget North Korea who are desperate to build a bomb….and no doubt would not hesitate to fire against their Southern neighbours……and the Pakistan regime is so brittle that who is to say that the Taliban don’t topple it in x period of time).

Will we ever see a world free from nuclear weapons?  No.  Because you cannot uninvent the technology for these weapons.  The moment a conflict arises then the arms race starts again.  This is not the case if minimal numbers of nuclear weapons are kept.  Minimal is the key word and definition of.

So returning to the issue of Trident upgrade.  In this current environment of a willingness to reduce weapons….what message does it send out for Great Britain to be investing in upgrading its nuclear weapons when stockpiles are being reduced.  It’s like calling for a smoking ban while lighting up a huge havana…..not the best message.

Maybe it is time that the Conservatives predicted this issue and seized the agenda on the grounds of joining the Obama agenda of reducing nuclear stockpiles across the world and upgrading does not send the best message out to our friends and neighbours…and to those states wanting a bomb.  Imagine the UK saying….’Sorry…..we dont want you to have a bomb but we will upgrade our stockpile’…….a hypocrites charter. 

Go to it Liam Fox this is your weekend to seize the political agenda on Afghanistan and also Trident upgrade.