NUCLEAR war is unthinkable. it would reduce the world to a blackened husk incapable of sustaining life. So why are there still more than 25,000 nuclear missiles in the world, and why does Britain persist with a nuclear deterrent?

The Armed Forces are facing a decade of austerity just to pay for a ludicrously expensive £20bn weapon with no defence value whatsoever.

Politicians tell us that the Army, Navy and Air Force must be remodelled because the nature of the threat against this country has changed since the end of the Cold War.

What greater symbol of the Cold War could there be than four vast submarines filled with missiles capable of killing millions of innocent people?

Yet Trident’s replacement is the only defence project protected from impending cutbacks.

Instead, the Green Howards, a regiment with a long and proud history of service to this country, are in the Ministry’s sights.

The Army needs every soldier it has.

You cannot fight a war in Afghanistan with ballistic missile submarines.

No one would win a nuclear war.

There would be no “them” and “us” – the moment the nuclear button is pressed, it is game over for the human race.

By scrapping Trident, the Government would solve the defence budget overspend at a stroke.

It would also have plenty left over to make sure our soldiers are properly provisioned and protected when they go into battle.

As it is, we are sacrificing our real defence capability to a weapon that will never be used and the country does not need.