Trident

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.

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.

While George Osborne was busy launching the most swingeing budget cuts in a generation yesterday, he went out of his way to stress that he was being "tough but fair" – and that the pain of his austerity measures would be shared by everyone.

But hey - apparently companies involved in nuclear arms building wont be sharing the pain. This was made clear by new Defence Secretary Liam Fox when he presented his plans for a Strategic Security and Defence Review (SDSR) to parliament.

The TUC's Frances O'Grady on the gaping hole at the heart of Britain's finances

Tonight sees the final leaders’ debate of election 2010, and with the polls still close and Gordon Brown facing up to the public after his 'bigot' gaffe, it should be a lively one.

The subject of the debate is the real issue of the day – the economy and how we are going to deal with our massive national deficit.