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By Tracey Cheetham Nuclear weapons have been part of the UK's defence programme since 1952, with Trident in place since 1994. The arguments for and against the UK having a nuclear weapons system have rumbled on for a long time - but now…
By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk Both shadow defence and international development ministers have turned on the coalition government today over plans for a withdrawal from Afghanistan. Speaking on The World at One, Douglas Alexander…
By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk Speaking to Radio 4 this afternoon, former defence minister Geoff Hoon warned the government against setting artificial targets for withdrawal from Afghanistan. Hoon said: "There's nothing wrong with…
By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk * Defence minister Liam Fox has indicated that UK troops could be among the last to leave Afghanistan. * Secret documents show how Lord Goldsmith changed his advice on the legality of the Iraq war - and…
By Brian Barder / @brianlb It's extraordinary that the national political discourse isn't dominated by the war in Afghanistan. We have been engulfed in it for nine years already and almost every bulletin brings news of yet more deaths of…
By Douglas Alexander MP In one of the bloodiest weeks of the conflict, we lost our three hundredth British casualty in Afghanistan this week, and tragically the death toll did not stop there. Our thoughts must be with their families and…
By Anna Chen Completely from left field (uh, right field...) and out of the blue skies in David Cameron's air-brushed head, Oceania is now at war with Eastasia. I've walked fresh from my shortlist triumph at last night's Orwell Prize event…
By Malcolm Clarke UPDATE: Representatives from Abacus have now responded in the comments, and the article on which this post was based has now been linked to from here. Two years ago, a young man from 2 Para regiment, Private Dave Tatlock…
By Brian Barder / @BrianLB This is another collection of thoughts about a few of the events and controversies of the last few weeks, seen from the perspective of a committed supporter of the Labour Party who is also an unhappy critic of…
By Kieran Roberts A few PMQs ago, David Cameron claimed that "under the Conservatives, we won the Cold War." That was off putting enough but what I found most reprehensible was his continuation: "and we all remember who was wearing the CND…
By James Stafford Students of modern history, like myself, learnt something astonishing from Prime Minister's Questions this week. The CPGB (yes, Conservative Party of Great Britain) 'won' the Cold War in the 1980s. This, you see, was the…
By Darrell Goodliffe Bob Ainsworth wants a "debate" on defence following the launch of the Ministry of Defence Green Paper. There were some predictable responses; the The Times waded in saying that Britain may be "broken" but not so broke…
