Experts attack Trident replacement as MoD faces a £9bn shortfall

Published on Tuesday 30 June 2009 22:03

THE government was yesterday forced to concede it faced "immense challenges" on defence spending after experts condemned plans to renew Trident as an unnecessary cost.

Defence Minister Bill Rammell said ministers remained committed to Trident but warned that it was under review.

In an apparent slap down of the government's policy, an ally of Gordon Brown's, Edinburgh South MP Nigel Griffiths, accused the Prime Minister of "machismo".

Mr Griffiths said many Labour MPs opposed the renewal of Trident.

"I've got no doubt of the popularity on the back-benches and within the party (for scrapping Trident], and I believe we could carry the argument within the country," he said.

But he said that thanks to the Tory commitment to renewing it and concerns about the media coverage, this had become a "machismo issue" for Mr Brown.

"I happen to believe that's one of the reasons why we decided to invest in Trident," he said.

Defence spending is coming under increasing pressure and experts warn that the MoD could have a shortfall of around 9 billion.

Ministers are also facing calls to conduct a fresh strategic defence review so that the MoD can prioritise spending.

Lord Ashdown, who served on a panel for the Institute of Public Policy which produced a report warning the government to rethink Trident, said there was a 9 billion-a-year gap in the UK's defence budget.

"My personal view – not the commission's view – is that I can see no circumstances in which a rational review of Trident would lead you to the decision to replace Trident with Trident, but the decision is better taken in the context of a security review when you can look at the security situation and look at the options," he said.

He added that with the demise of western power, "we can no longer afford to maintain museum Cold War armaments".

Meanwhile, ministers also faced pressure over the Royal Navy's two planned new aircraft carriers after a former head of the armed forces questioned whether the country could still afford them.

Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank said that the two 65,000 tonne ships were "enormously expensive" and suggested that there were other, cheaper and more effective ways of delivering sea power.

His comments came after a leaked memorandum by the consortium building the ships disclosed that they were already running at 1 billion over budget – an increase of more than 25 per cent on the original estimated cost of 3.9 billion.