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As it clearly concerns you - being bombed, that is - surely you can see that having the ability to retaliate means you can, in fact, sleep easier? I'm not sure that you're being consistent here; on the one hand you say you can see the arguments for having Trident, on the other you are convinced it's a waste of money. Granted, it's very pricey, as is anything designed to protect an entire nation, but surely the portion of our taxes that goes to the defence budget is something we should be happy to contribute to? I agree, it's of little use in Iraq and Afganistan but that's a moot point as, like you I suspect, I don't believe we should be there. The point is this: there are mad tyrants in the world who are gaining in power - look to Korea, for example, for the first signs of instability - and who, like many have gone before, may well have delusions of world domination. It's always been like this - we are not, in any way, one big, happy family of nations all existing in the perfect harmony of an aged Blue Mink hit. Say one of those tyrants decides he fancies unleashing his firepower on a country that would show his might; if he knows they would simply wipe him out in a retaliatory attack, he's much, much less likely to do so. He'll choose someone who can't retaliate. Get rid of Trident, and the resultant vulnerability you leave the county open to is worth far more to thers than the price we pay for a deterrent.

With the latest downgrading of Greek bonds and their ban on shorting financials it looks like the futility of the ECB/IMF rescue plan is becoming apparent. It would seem Greece is about to bear the brunt of the abject failure of the political class to do anything constructive in sorting out the fiscal problems this country has and looking at Portugal's downgrading contagion is starting. Let us not forget just why this has become such a problem. Had the politicians grasped the full extent of what was going to happen then maybe a real deal could have been done to negate the full effects Greece will now have to face. Even at the eleventh hour the latest 'rescue plan' is unworkable and doesn't provide the quick, reactive and decisive measures needed to really help Greece. I think there is a very salient lesson in there for us! Greece is about to pay for the folly of allowing the Eurocrats too much self induced importance. Spain, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, take a pin and see which one will be next to be targeted for having unrealistic fiscal policies. That same pin might just land a bit closer to home of course..........