By David Williamson, Wales Online

Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan and other faith leaders have urged the UK Government to abandon nuclear missiles on moral, strategic and economic grounds.

The calls come in the same week that the findings of a Government report led the Lib Dems to argue that Britain could cease to have a continuous-at-sea deterrent, cut the submarine fleet from four boats to three and save £4bn on the estimated £20bn to £25bn cost of renewing the Trident missile system.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg yesterday insisted the country can be kept safe without a Cold War-era nuclear weapons policy that enables the UK to “flatten Moscow at the push of a button”.

But Dr Morgan called for the Government to go further and argued that Britain would now be better off without nuclear weapons.

The Anglican archbishop said: “Replacing Trident cannot be justified morally, strategically or financially. Morally, we can’t argue for non-proliferation and against possession of nuclear weapons in other countries, such as Iran and North Korea, if we continue to invest in our own.

“As a role model for other countries, I feel it does immense damage to building peace and security in other political and economic contexts.”

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