Trident too expensive - at £20 billion or £76 billion

11.53.05am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 30th Jun 2009

"The proposed nuclear defence system Trident, costing at least £20 billion, diverts much needed money from valuable public services," says Elwyn Watkins, the Liberal Democrat Prospective MP for Oldham East & Saddleworth. "And some estimates put the true cost of the scheme at £76 billion."

His comments come on the day that an independent review of defence spending has called for the government to revisit its commitment to Trident.

"We should not be spending such huge sums of money on weapons systems when our soldiers are not properly looked after, especially when they return after fighting for our country," Elwyn argues.

"And in the current recession, we cannot afford to spend such vast amounts of taxpayers' hard earned money on Trident. There are more pressing needs for the people of this country, as many people in this area will know."

"The Labour government would rather spend somewhere between £20 billion and £76 billion on a weapon that we can never actually use, rather than improving public services like hospitals, or getting young people trained up and into work. The process should at least be delayed, and like many people I would ultimately like to see Trident scrapped altogether."

Earlier this month, Nick Clegg told the BBC, "We have to be realistic and candid about what we can and can't afford as a nation."