CONSERVATIVE
New Forest East

DEFENCE (FRONT BENCH) – TRIDENT - 17 November 2005

DEFENCE (FRONT BENCH) – TRIDENT - 17 November 2005

Dr Julian Lewis: In support of the hon. Gentleman's [Peter Kilfoyle's] remarks about Trident, although from the opposite side of the argument, I remind him that in the 1980s, in the run-up to Trident, the then Conservative Government published a series of Open Government Defence Documents that aired the arguments about the decision to replace Polaris with Trident. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that if the Government are serious about starting the debate, they should begin by publishing a similar rationale, so that the public debate can get under way as to why we need a successor or, indeed, why we do not?