'I doubt if Brown's father would have approved of Trident'

Speaking at an anti-Trident debate in Glasgow, The Right Rev Alan McDonald criticised the Chancellor for defending his decision in the manner that he had.

"In Scotland, in the church where his father was a Church of Scotland minister, Gordon Brown said he was sure his late father would have agreed with him about nuclear weapons. Well who knows, but we do know that the Church of Scotland has opposed nuclear weapons for the past 25 years," the minister said.

Mr Brown had been speaking at St Bryce Kirk in Kirkcaldy on Sunday, when he was asked whether his father, the Rev Dr John Brown, who died in 1998, would have agreed with his support for the replacement of the Trident nuclear arsenal.

The Chancellor replied that he believed he would, adding: "The first duty of a government is to defend and protect the security of the citizens of its country and at a time of international insecurity nobody would thank us for renouncing some of the parts of our defence."

In his speech, Dr McDonald also said that Mr Brown's efforts to fight world hunger were worth nothing if he continued to advocate the UK holding a nuclear deterrent.

"The Chancellor is due great credit for his part in the Make Poverty History Campaign," he said.

"However, what is the point of making poverty history if you then effectively target the poor, and everybody else in the world, with nuclear weapons?

"And ... how much aid for the developing world could you buy with 25 billion? How many lives could be saved?"

A spokesman for the Chancellor last night said: "There are many strong views on this issue, and there must be the fullest possible debate before any decisions are made.

"But ultimately, governments have a responsibility to lead and to recommend what they feel is right for the long-term security needs of the country."