 John Gough said
“General Dannatt is a well respected military man with many years’ service and has earned the right to speak his mind. His views, of course, do not represent those of the Conservative Party which we have repeatedly stressed.
A Conservative government is committed to maintaining and replacing the nuclear deterrent and building the submarines at Barrow and this has been stated on many occasions.”
He said the Tories had vowed to exclude Trident from the strategic defence review it will hold if they get into power.
John added:
“The facts are that the Labour government has delayed the Trident programme already by delaying approval of the design of the submarine and also because they have delayed the Astute programme by just short of five years.”
He said Labour was delaying progress on six Astute submarines by nine months each – a total of 4½ years. The Tories have asked a parliamentary question about the delays which have still not been answered by Labour.
The Tories have also pledged to maintain a continuous, at-sea nuclear deterrent.
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