UK must cut investment to tackle 'black hole' in budget, report says

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) must consider abandoning GBP24 billion (USD40 billion)-worth of investment in the Trident nuclear deterrent replacement and a range of other programmes to address "a black hole in the defence budget", according to a think-tank.

The report by the Institute for Public Policy Research, entitled 'Shared Responsibilities: A National Security Strategy for the United Kingdom', stated that London should conduct a 'Strategic Review of Security', of which the armed forces would form just one component. This review would involve a fundamental reappraisal of the value of the Trident system, although the report conceded that a minimum UK deterrent was still necessary.

The report – which was spearheaded by Lord George Robertson, a former UK defence secretary and NATO secretary general, and Lord Paddy Ashdown, a previous leader of the Liberal Democrats and high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina – said that a new review should consider the best and most cost-effective way to provide this deterrent, including whether existing plans to replace Trident should be maintained, or Trident extended, or a new deterrent pursued.