Letter: Wider consultation needed in Government defence review

Letter: Wider consultation needed in Government defence review

Sir: Out running in the beautiful Eden Valley on Monday morning, my ears were assailed by the horrendous noise of combat aircraft preparing for war in our skies.

We were told in advance that the Labour government's defence review would exclude Trident and the Eurofighter. The certainties of the Cold War over, the military strategists were left with the difficult task of identifying and defining new threats to justify continuing public expenditure on projects already committed to. International instability and unpredictable rogue states would take the place of Soviet expansionism, Trident would be deployed to replace Polaris and the Eurofighter would replace Tornado. Polly Toynbee is right to suggest that imperial delusions hobble rational decision-making and that our politicians are corralled by defence contractors and trade unions.

Quite soon I expect to hear the sound of the first Eurofighter above my home in the Eden Valley.

NIGEL CHAMBERLAIN

CND Regional Worker

Penrith, Cumbria