Blethering Skite

SCOTTISH nuclear bases are supported by 1990s-style pagers such as the ones targeted in a mass attack on Lebanon this week, The National can reveal.

National security concerns have been raised about the use of the antiquated technology in sites where nuclear weapons are stored and maintained.

Two sources have confirmed to this paper that the use of pagers, which appear to have been tampered with to cause explosions across Lebanon in attacks which have injured thousands, remains common at bases in Coulport and Faslane.

Chris McEleny, who previously worked at Royal Naval Armaments Depot Coulport where nuclear warheads are stored, told The National “people will be astounded that the safety of the UK’s nuclear deterrent is still supported by a network of 1980s and 1990s-style handheld pagers”.

The revelation will add to fears about the state of Britain’s nuclear fleet, which is believed to be “rotting”.

Former Tory special adviser Dominic Cummings last year lifted the lid on what he said was the “nightmare” issue of Trident.

He wrote that nuclear weapons infrastructure was “a dangerous disaster and a budget nightmare of hard-to-believe and highly classified proportions”.