Peace

Today's media is full of stories about defence cuts. They come on the back of a parliamentary Defence Committee report which accuses the government of rushing the defence review and being preoccupied with cost-cutting - rather than dealing with the real threats Britain faces.

How The Sun saw last week's spat between Osborne and Fox © Andy Davey

Trident replacement is looking less likely today after Chancellor George Osborne told media that the Treasury weren’t willing to stump up for the project out of central funds.

Speaking in New Delhi, where he is accompanying David Cameron on his visit to India, Mr Osborne told the Bloomberg newswire: "All budgets have pressure. I don't think there's anything particularly unique about the Ministry of Defence. I have made it very clear that Trident renewal costs must be taken as part of the defence budget."

HMS Vanguard, Britain's first Trident submarine

No one has been more insistent that Britain must commit to replacing Trident than new defence secretary Liam Fox. Despite the lack of credible targets and the exorbitant cost, Dr Fox has fought doggedly for a new generation of nuclear weapons to protect Britain from "nuclear blackmail" by other states - apparently North Korea (possibly four missiles at most) and Iran (none at all) give him palpitations and sleepless nights.

But now, in a deliciously ironic twist, Dr Fox is being asked to put his department's money where his mouth is. Traditionally the Treasury pays for the capital investment in nuclear weapons, but such is the pressure to cut-back on government spending across the board that the Chancellor is now keen that the MoD should foot the bill instead.

A YouGov poll released today reaffirms what we already knew: a clear majority people simply don't support government plans to build a 'like for like' replacement for the Trident nuclear deterrent.

The poll, undertaken on behalf of think tank Chatham House, found that only 29 per cent of the public backed the government's Trident plans. Amongst opinion formers the level of support fell to a paltry 22 per cent.