The reference in the article to everyone but Britain having “left MAD behind” after the Cold War ended strikes me as delusional. MAD still exists. 450 Minuteman III missiles sit in silos in the upper Midwest ready for launch. Tensions are much lower, but there is no question that the MAD doctrine is still in effect. The author seems to think it’s a quaint Cold War idea now outdated.

The article suggests that the deterrent value of the British nuclear force is diminished by the letter because it introduces uncertainty about whether a retaliation attack would occur. Hmm. Dunno about that – who is willing to risk a 50/50 chance of the total destruction of all their major cities? And anyway, the letter only comes into effect if the Prime Minister and his designated second are dead – which even in the event of a massive nuclear attack on London is nowhere near certain, since early-warning systems would pick up ICBMs or bombers, although SLBMs would give much less warning time. But Russia is the only threat wih SLBMs, and they’re not suicidally deranged enough to launch an attack on Britain.