More than £1bn will be invested in Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system over the next three years to ensure its "continued reliability and safety," the government has announced, writes Jean Eaglesham, Political Correspondent. John Reid, the defence secretary, said yesterday the investment was needed to "maintain the existing Trident warhead stockpile," irrespective of decisions on a successor for the ageing arsenal. But the modernisation of the Atomic Weapons Establishment sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield, which will cost £350m a year, will anger some Labour MPs, who want the UK to abandon its independent nuclear deterrent. Tony Blair said last month that no decision had been taken on possible replacements for the submarine-launched Trident.