THE frightening stand-off between the North Korean and American leaders is surely a timely reminder that the widespread complacency about nuclear weapons is a denial of reality.

The old warning about the risks of’miscalculation or madness being a trigger for the start of a nuclear conflict looks realistic in the North Korean/United States context.

Apart from accident, a pre-emptive strike was always the most realistic scenario for a nuclear exchange. Country A thinks Country B is highly likely to launch an attack and therefore must strike first while Country B thinks it must threaten to use its weapons to prevent an attack.

Add to this the “madness” factor. We have two unstable leaders pushing their rhetoric to the point from which it is difficult to retreat. Are there sufficient restraining forces around them? We might not know until it is too late.

The First World War was triggered by an assassination in Serbia but, behind it, was a major build-up of weapons and imperial rivalry. We are in a period with a massive accumulation of killing power and extensive interventionist wars. One miscalculation could set off an irreversible train. We in Scotland cannot forget that, 30 miles from Glasgow, we have the biggest nuclear target in Western Europe.

Isobel Lindsay,

9 Knocklea Place,

Biggar.