LABOUR’S shadow defence secretary Vernon Coaker vowed to retain Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent yesterday, despite the majority of its prospective MPs opposing the plan.

Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute, he set out Labour’s approach to defence claiming it would stand in stark contrast to that of the Tories.

Mr Coaker said that Tory failures over the last five years had led to widening gaps in the nation’s military capabilities and a further erosion of Britain’s role in the world.