Nuclear deterrent will always be there

WITH ref to the letter from Alan Debenham on nuclear weapons (24th March), while it would be nice to think that they could be banned worldwide, it isn’t going to happen unless there is complete trust between nations that no-one will keep a few ‘in hand,’ just in case they get threatened by superior conventional forces.

Also, even if there was a total ban, as with any weapon people will not forget how to make them, so they will remain as a deterrent until something more deadly is invented.

I would like to think that in the event of a nuclear war that even with our very small (compared with Russia or the USA) arsenal we would not go down without knowing we had the ability to hit back.

I do have a certain amount of sympathy for not holding a large stockpile unless they are going to replace out-of-date warheads; after all, if all our nuclear weapons are not on board our subs when a war started, there would be no going back to replenish supplies as there would be nothing left to go back to!

Turning now to the letter from

Don Frampton on the same page regarding increased police powers, if all demonstrations were peaceful there would be no need for them but it seems that even the most peaceful ones are being hijacked by well organised groups of anarchists intent on causing trouble and attacking the police – the totally disgraceful scenes in Bristol recently being an example.

The permission for a vigil for Sarah Everard was refused, but it went ahead anyway. It started peacefully but as it was an illegal gathering the police had to be there... but once it began to be interrupted by the anarchist brigade who started making inflammatory speeches in an attempt to stir up the crowd, trouble was almost certain to happen.

It would seem today that any demonstration, no matter how well intended, is likely to be invaded.

The police have to be ready for all eventualities and should trouble start to occur, it is up to the ordinary peaceful demonstrator to get out of the way and let the police deal with the troublemakers, and if they have to employ severe methods to stop it turning into a riot – so be it.

Paul Mercer

Tavistock