I’M WRITING to correct my letter last week which, probably due to my handwriting or the fact it was written in a hurry, came out not as intended.

I did not believe the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent was required during the cold war as our membership of the NATO alliance did more to secure the peace than our own nuclear deterrent and our membership should have placed us under the US nuclear umbrella as an attack on any one of the member countries was an attack on all of us.Therefore if we were targeted by nuclear weapons, the US would not stand by and do nothing. And now back to the present day, as I said in last week’s letter, we are unlikely to be targeted by nuclear weapons (and I do really hope that is the case and not just wishful thinking on my part) but we have to bear in mind North Korea and Iran, and probably those that we are not yet aware of trying to acquire their own nukes. Until we know the reasons for this it would not be a good idea to get rid of all our own weapons. That is why, when last week’s letter read I would feel comfortable with scrapping them altogether, it was supposed to have read I would NOT feel comfortable with scrapping them altogether.

We do not know at present what Iran and North Korea want to use their newly acquired nuclear weapons against. We may wake up one day to a mushroom cloud over London or Washington or it could just as likely be Melbourne or Sydney or any other country who has not the means of hitting back. If that were to be the case we have the means to respond and we or the US should, as it is in the whole world’s interests that the first country to start throwing their nuclear weight about is stopped as soon as possible and make it so that they are unable to continue. It may not be just one country they intend to target but several. Just because we do not happen to be one of them does not mean we should stand by and do nothing if that means we have to use nuclear weapons to wipe their country out, so be it.

This all sounds probably as depressing to a lot of people as it does for me but when it comes to defence you have to consider not just what you would like to happen, or most possible to happen, but also what could happen. That being said, the defence budget is about £30 billion, renewal of Trident £100 billion. We have to consider if that is not overstretching things somewhat. There are other threats more relevant.

J R Hawkins, Ramsbury Walk, Trowbridge