The former head of the UK's armed forces has condemned the state of submarines carrying Britain's nuclear deterrent.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin decried the Royal Navy's decrepit subsurface fleet at a time when the world is getting more dangerous and unstable.
He stepped down just weeks ago after three years as Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS). In his first speech he attacked governments for leaving Britain exposed.
Admiral Sir Tony told the Institute for Government: 'The world is getting more dangerous and our armed forces are not as strong as we would wish.
'There is something wrong when successive governments profess the nuclear continuously at sea deterrent is our highest priority but our sailors are having to put to sea for extraordinarily long patrols in some of the most complex machines on the planet that are beyond their original design life.'
