In the last stretch of political campaigns, things tend to get ugly as the real cost of
winning and losing becomes clear. This one is no different, with its suggestions of tactical voting and disagreements about tactical weapons.
The latter has become particularly viscious with a former spymaster, an ex-general and a former CT chief calling into question the securty and defence policies Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats.
In their defence, the Lib Dems have positioned their biggest weapon, Paddy Ashdown, who fired a volley against Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, saying that “things had changed since he supplied intelligence to Tony Blair about Iraq and WMD”. Bull’s eye!
But who is right – Britain’s G-men or the Granola Army? In a perfect world, it would be very sensible to review the role of Trident in a leisurely way.

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