http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=49415 The NewsBiscuit Community en-US Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:13:55 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/search.php http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=49415#post-142620 Tue, 09 Oct 2012 20:25:56 +0000 Alfred Noakes 142620@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>The Chancellor of the Exchequer, speaking at the Tory party conference, today rounded angrily on critics who proposed big defence cuts. </p> <p>At a fringe meeting, backbenchers had suggested that Osbourne, who is seeking to identify £10 billion spending cuts to get government borrowing back on track, could simply cancel the Trident nuclear programme and achieve his aim in one fell swoop.</p> <p>Osbourne reacted to the proposal by stating ‘I know that if you asked single mothers with large families and young people in rented accommodation which they prefer, they'd choose a robust nuclear deterrent over putting food in their children's mouths and having a roof over their head, any day of the week’.</p> <p>He added ‘This proposal is naive. Having nuclear weapons gives Britain respect on the global stage and a seat at the UN Security Council. Also, there is the potential for rogue states such as Lichtenstein, Andorra and Luxembourg to gain a nuclear capability, which we need to defend against’. </p> <p>Rebel conservative MPs had previously stated that owning an atomic capability is a luxury we can’t afford, that other Western European countries manage to survive without investing in a nuclear arsenal and that, if we were between 'a rock and a hard place' we could call on the 'special relationship' enjoyed by successive British prime ministers with the USA, to protect us. </p> <p>The Prime Minister, David Cameron chose to answer this point by stating 'There are several different meanings attached to the word 'special' in this day and age'. He also<br /> confirmed that Britain would never actually use nuclear weapons and that they were there 'merely as a deterrent'. </p> <p>He then muttered something about ‘not wanting a repeat of 'hose lesbians at Greenham Common again’ before moving on to salute the Queen in her Jubilee year. </p>