Cameron Defends Trident as Clegg Party Mulls Replacement

Prime Minister David Cameron warned against any move to abandon the U.K.’s submarine-based nuclear weapons, citing a growing threat from North Korea and Iran as his Liberal Democrat coalition partners consider scaling back the missile program.

“We have an independent nuclear deterrent in our country, the Trident submarines, and soon we are going to have to make the decision about whether to replace it on a proper, like-for-like basis and I strongly believe we should,” Cameron told defense-industry workers in Scotland today. “The world we live in is very uncertain, very dangerous. There are nuclear states and one cannot be sure about how they will develop. To me having that nuclear deterrent is quite simply the best insurance policy that you can have that you will never be subject to nuclear blackmail.”