SO, COUNCILLOR John Tanner thinks, like his Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, that Britain should not renew its Trident nuclear deterrent (letters March 1).

This idealism is sadly misplaced. The real world has some very nasty people in it who have (or may soon have) nuclear weapons, including the leader of North Korea.

Perhaps Mr Tanner should remember that Hitler tried to build a nuclear bomb during the Second World War, and tested primitive nuclear devices on concentration camp inmates in 1944-5, resulting in the death of several hundred of them.

As long as there are mad tyrants in the world there is always a danger they will acquire and even use nuclear weapons. The fact that Britain and other nations possess the nuclear deterrent is the only thing that might stop these tyrants using theirs. To prevent a nuclear war almost any price is worth paying.

Meanwhile the cost of renewing Trident could easily be covered in a few years by saving ourselves the money we pay to be a member of the EU.

STEPHEN NASH
Washington Terrace
Middle Barton