§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the latest estimated cost of the Trident nuclear programme, expressed as a percentage of the current year's defence budget.
§ Mr. ButlerIt is not our practice to relate project estimates involving expenditure over a number of years to456W the defence budget for a specific year. However, the cost of the Trident programme will on average account for about 3 per cent. of the defence budget over the 20-year period of its procurement.