BBC 1 NOW interview with Nick Clegg

[-:Undertaker:-]

Remind me, when was the UKIP Manifesto announced?

The mini-manifesto which included this policy was launched back in March (19th) and the policy has been a UKIP one since 2006. I have no issues with other parties using good policies which will benefit the country, but to pass it off as your own is just quite childish and rather petty I think.

[MrPinkPanther]

The mini-manifesto which included this policy was launched back in March (19th).

Thats funny because the Liberal Democrats was before that with the Spring Party Conference finishing on March 15th

and the policy has been a UKIP one since 2006. I have no issues with other parties using good policies which will benefit the country, but to pass it off as your own is just quite childish and rather petty I think.

It has been a policy of the Liberal Democrats in past elections (Not £10,000 but raising the threshold). Just because UKIP are adopting their policy this time around it doesn't make it UKIPs idea originally.

Also I have no problem with parties using the same policies. No one is stealing anything, all it means is they share common ground on a certain area. Lets be honest, raising the income tax threshold is hardly a revolutionary idea is it?

[-:Undertaker:-]

Thats funny because the Liberal Democrats was before that with the Spring Party Conference finishing on March 15th

It has been a policy of the Liberal Democrats in past elections (Not £10,000 but raising the threshold). Just because UKIP are adopting their policy this time around it doesn't make it UKIPs idea originally.

Also I have no problem with parties using the same policies. No one is stealing anything, all it means is they share common ground on a certain area. Lets be honest, raising the income tax threshold is hardly a revolutionary idea is it?

Indeed the Liberal Democrats held their spring conference on March 15th and have only just announced their £10,000 tax rate policy within the recent weeks that have led upto the election while it has been a UKIP policy since 2006 and was again mentioned in the UKIP Spring Conference. I agree that there is not anything revolutionary or wrong with taking policies from eachother however its good if you can admit it sometimes whereas the Liberal Democrats seem to be putting it across in a way in which its their own idea with everyone head over heels for Nick Clegg for some reason. UKIP have not adopted the policy this time, it has been policy since 2006.

As this thread is about the Liberal Democrats, any Liberal Democrats here care to show me or teach me the sense in scrapping our independent Trident system or raising taxes on the well off which would only drive them away thus deepening the deficeit in taxation as we learned in the 1970s?

[alexxxxx]

As this thread is about the Liberal Democrats, any Liberal Democrats here care to show me or teach me the sense in scrapping our independent Trident system or raising taxes on the well off which would only drive them away thus deepening the deficeit in taxation as we learned in the 1970s?

well if you think about how expensive trident is £100bn, it would seem that a large reduction would be good for the taxpayers' wallet.

[-:Undertaker:-]

well if you think about how expensive trident is £100bn, it would seem that a large reduction would be good for the taxpayers' wallet.

The renewal of Trident as far as I am aware stands at the £20 billion mark (lets say £25 million as most things go over budget) and is central to the national defence. In a nuclear age, you could dismantle all your military forces and keep your nuclear defence systems and nobody would or could touch you. I dont think you or the Liberal Democrats realise how central the Trident system is to the national security of the United Kingdom; China is rising and it is vital that we keep an independent nuclear system which can counter any Chinese threats/blackmail, as well as maintaining our national sovereignty from other powers such as France and the United States of America.

[alexxxxx]

The renewal of Trident as far as I am aware stands at the £20 billion mark (lets say £25 million as most things go over budget) and is central to the national defence. In a nuclear age, you could dismantle all your military forces and keep your nuclear defence systems and nobody would or could touch you. I dont think you or the Liberal Democrats realise how central the Trident system is to the national security of the United Kingdom; China is rising and it is vital that we keep an independent nuclear system which can counter any Chinese threats/blackmail, as well as maintaining our national sovereignty from other powers such as France and the United States of America.

i wrote a decent response but i accidently clicked off so ill summarise.

banthebomb (not exactly an unbiased source) says it costs £25bn to build and £1bn a year.
greenpeace say that itll be closer to £97bn - again not a partisan source

i should imagine itll cost somewhere in between, probably not nearly as high at 97bn.

national defense is important but due to its 'emotional' attachment it doesn't get nearly as much scrutiny.

[-:Undertaker:-]

i wrote a decent response but i accidently clicked off so ill summarise.

banthebomb (not exactly an unbiased source) says it costs £25bn to build and £1bn a year.
greenpeace say that itll be closer to £97bn - again not a partisan source

i should imagine itll cost somewhere in between, probably not nearly as high at 97bn.

national defense is important but due to its 'emotional' attachment it doesn't get nearly as much scrutiny.

The cost then (with those two sources in mind) I would put at near the governments offical figures as they will want to be seen to keeping costs down, so i'd put it at the £25 billion to £30 billion region. It isnt an emotional attachment, its a matter of life or death if we ever find ourselves in a situation like the Cold War yet again. It deserves scrutiny, but at the end of the day its rockets and rockets which should only be used at the most urgent of times, more to be used as a defensive point more so. It retains national sovereignty and military sovereignty for the United Kingdom and is vital to national defence. For example; it wouldnt matter how many troops you had if the other side has a number of nuclear weapons.