Brown urged to review Trident proposal

June 15, 2009

By James Blitz, Defence and Diplomatic Editor

Published: June 15 2009 03:00 | Last updated: June 15 2009 03:00
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/311bb044-5944-11de-80b3-00144feabdc0.html

Gordon Brown is coming under fresh pressure to reconsider the government's decision to renew Britain's £20bn independent nuclear weapons system.

As defence planners prepare to begin design work on a new fleet of submarines that can carry the Trident D5 missile and its nuclear warheads, two influential reports suggest that ministers should re-examine key aspects of the decision taken under Tony Blair's premiership to keep a nuclear capability.

Institute for Public Policy Research

New Report to be published 30th June - http://www.ippr.org.uk/

Lord Robertson, the former Nato secretary-general and defence secretary, and Lord Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader will jointly argue that Britain should investigate whether the submarine-launched system is "the best and most cost effective way" or a cheaper version can be found to retain some form of "minimum nuclear deterrent". The document will be published this month by the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Foreign Affairs Select Committee report

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmfaff/222/222.pdf

Another report published yesterday by the all-party Commons foreign affairs committee calls for more transparency from the government over plans to renew the system at a cost of £20bn over the next 14 years. The committee says there must be a full debate on Trident in parliament this autumn before the government begins spending millions on design work for a new fleet of submarines that can carry the missiles.

The committee also calls on the government to be more explicit about how Britain would respond if next month's disarmament talks between the US and Russia achieve significant cuts in warheads. It calls on the government to state in particular "whether there are circumstances under which the UK would be prepared to suspend the Trident renewal programme".

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