Wrong, wrong and wrong again: British press continue to misreport the cost of replacing Trident

This is not an argument for scrapping Trident on cost grounds — it is simply an attempt to point out how inaccurately the press continues to report the cost of replacement.

Sources that inform the British public continue to mislead on costs, and consistently fail to reflect operational costs which, even by the government's own forecasts, will add a further £60 billion. Instead of reporting a cost of £20 billion, they ought to be reporting a cost of £80 billion — no small difference when the entire defence budget is just under £40 billion.

BBC, 22 September: £20bn. The Economist, 22 September: £20bn. Both wrong.