The Letter of Last Resort

Good old Radio 4. I have to rest today and tomorrow so I could not join in with the fun at the village fête today. This afternoon I listened with fascination and horror to the Saturday Drama on Radio 4, "The Letter of Last Resort" by David Greig.

When a new prime minister takes office, one of his/her first tasks is to write 4 identical letters to the commanders of the Trident submarines. The letter contains instructions for the event of the UK being wiped out in a nuclear war. The commanders need to know if they should retaliate by releasing their nuclear warheads.

The play is well worth listening to, as was a follow up discussion chaired by Paddy O'Connell. He interviewed 3 people about how they would decide and they each read out their letter.

For me the most disturbing aspect of all of this is that the new prime minister writes the letter when he/she has just finished a bruising, exhausting political campaign, will have been celebrating and needs sleep. Is that a good time to make such a momentous decision - or is it as good as any?

Continuing to rest. Looking forward to Arne Dahl later.