Lib Dem conference: Danny Alexander hints at key role for Trident in coalition negotiations

Danny Alexander is respected by his colleagues across the coalition (except Vince Cable – James reveals today that the pair are barely speaking) for a number of things, from his bean counting ability to his aptitude for giving a lengthy interview or fringe speech without moving a story on an inch. He tried to do the latter today on the Trident alternatives review at a Demos event, but was foiled by his panel partner, Baroness Falkner of Margravine, chair of the party’s backbench international affairs committee. She compared the party’s policy to flood insurance that ‘only applies in a drought’, saying:

‘How does a posture of sending out boats unarmed actually deliver credibility? We say that we will send out boats with a public declaration that they will not be armed and that’s what we will do and then occasionally, as the world gets tenser, as potentially a crisis situation approaches, we will send two guys up a hill to Coulport to get down some warheads, run down the mountain with them, stick them into batteries, get the boats out of the Clyde – never mind the fact an aggressor might target you in the Clyde – and then a couple of weeks to get out into international waters and, if you are talking about China, you’ve still got a long way to go.’