SUNDERLAND South MP Chris Mullin wants us to scrap the multi-billion Trident nuclear missile replacement system in order to save money (Echo, April 30) because we need to make economies as a result of the recession and the Government debt level being higher than it should be in relation to following prudent policy.

I thought the reply he received from the Prime Minister recognised the need for all the countries with nuclear weapon capability to agree on the reduction of their stockpiles as part of what had been agreed in the non-proliferation treaty.

We found during the Cold War that the offer of unilateral nuclear disarmament was never seen by a government with nuclear weapons to be a practical proposition, but was at best gesture politics which no side would seriously take up. In the agreements made between Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, a multilateral approach was the best way forward.

We do have the right to be impatient that little progress has been made since the end of the Cold War. Hopefully, with a new US President, some progress may be made.

Geoffrey Bulmer, Billingham.