Latest editorial
HMS Vigilant at HM Naval Base Clyde, Faslane, which carries Britain’s Trident nukes
PEACE campaigners said that Labour had “missed the point” today, after the party accused the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of wasting £13 billion of taxpayer cash since 2010.
The party used independently collated data to identify 67 cases of waste, including £4.8bn on cancelled contracts and £5.6bn of extra spending on programmes that went over budget.
The MoD, which has an annual budget of more than £40bn a year, said that it had to take “tough decisions” to protect the country, but none of its 36 major projects is rated green – defined as being on time and within original cost projections.
Expanding Britain’s nuclear capability increases the risk of nuclear confrontation. It does not keep us safe – it makes us a target, argues CAROL TURNER
The defence secretary’s resignation reveals not a split over principle but a dispute over pace of military spending, as Britain’s political Establishment unites behind deeper Nato commitments, argues NICK WRIGHT
