LIBERAL Democrat leader Nick Clegg has been right to voice reservations about renewing Trident.

Trident was conceived during the Cold War, and times have changed.

Submarines equipped with nuclear weapons are rapidly becoming obsolete.

Each submarine carries up to 48 nuclear warheads, each capable of destroying a city. Furthermore analysts have voiced concerns that a scenario called ‘popping’ might occur. This is where one nuclear warhead accidentally goes off, causing a chain reaction that detonates all the nuclear warheads.

Whatever happened to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty? Many military personnel and strategists accept that there are no legitimate military targets.

Indeed, there have been numerous letters written by highly experienced army majors stating that Trident should be scrapped.

Yet the Conservatives have obstinately ignored all the evidence plonked before them.

They are planning to waste £20 billion on this dodo of a deterrent.

This huge sum of money could ensure the safety of pensioners’ winter fuel allowances, free bus passes, child benefit and all the other lifelines that the Conservatives seem intent on scrapping.

Mr Clegg needs to have the courage of his convictions and stand up for what is right. It is time for him to behave like a man rather than a mouse.

Susan Thomas, Magdalen Road, Oxford