Conservatives get it wrong again

In the past week, contradictory answers have been given in Parliament regarding long-lead contracts for the replacement of Trident. On one day the government stated there are postponed long-lead contracts to the sum of £66 million; a few days later the Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, stated there are no long-lead contracts.

Beyond the contradiction itself, Hansard records show that over £1 billion has already been spent on the replacement nuclear deterrent. The government urgently needs to clarify how much has been spent to date, or we face a growing list of contradictory statements with errors running into the billions.