LETTERS Nuclear nonsense
From The Rt Hon. The Lord Chalfont Sir: There is at least one statement in Andrew Gilligan's article ('Blair's plans for a Euro-bomb', 22 January) on the nuclear deterrent which, like the clock striking 13, casts doubt on its general cred- ibility. I was chairman of Vickers Ship- builders when the Trident submarine HMS Vanguard was being built, and I can assure you that the claim that it was 'two thirds built in the United States' is a silly over-simplification. Although the missile tubes and other components were made in the USA, the submarine, from the laying of the keel by Mrs (now Lady) Thatcher to its launch by the Princess of Wales, was entirely built in our shipyard at Barrow-in- Furness.
For the rest, his rehashing of the tired old clichés about Britain's nuclear striking force being neither independent nor a deterrent is reminiscent of the dear, departed days of Monsignor Bruce Kent and Ban the Bomb. There is a serious arti- cle to be written about nuclear strategy in the post-Cold War environment, but not by the 'defence and diplomatic correspon- dent of the BBC's Today programme'. Why not try the science correspondent of Hello!?
Chalfont
House of Lords, London SW1
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