Blair: Keeping Britain's Nuclear Deterrent Is 'Crucial'

Extracted from London Metro, 04.11.06

The Prime Minister warned today that it would be "unwise and dangerous" for Britain to give up its independent nuclear deterrent.

Outlining the Government's determination to press ahead with a new generation of nuclear missile submarines, Mr Blair said a independent deterrent served as "the ultimate insurance".

Retention of Britain's nuclear deterrent is "crucial" to national security he added as he set out plans to build a new generation of nuclear missile submarines.

The Prime Minister said the risk of a "major nuclear threat" to the UK meant it was essential to replace the Royal Navy's ageing fleet of Vanguard class submarines.

The estimated cost of replacing the fleet, which carries the Trident nuclear missiles, is £20 billion.

In a move to placate critics in the Labour Party, Mr Blair announced that Britain's stockpile of nuclear warheads would be cut by a fifth from around 200 to fewer than 160.

The Government's White Paper - formally ratified at a special meeting of the Cabinet this morning -also left open the option of reducing the submarine fleet from four to three.

Ministers have promised a Commons vote on the issue early next year.

With the Conservatives expected to back the Government, there is little doubt about the outcome. But many Labour MPs remain deeply unhappy about the decision.

In a forward to the White Paper, Mr Blair said that the retention of large nuclear arsenals by other countries, and the risk that more countries could acquire them, meant Britain could not afford to give up its deterrent.

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A good move by Blair (that is announcing the plans for reduction of UK’s nuclear arsenal) but unfortunately Mr Blair is about all spin and no action. His time as Prime Minister is coming to an end and the responsibility of the nuclear arsenal will be with someone else – everything will have been forgotten by then.

Here are some comments from the past and present made by Blair and his cabinet ministers (taken from the metro)

Tony Blair
1983: “W don’t need dangerous and costly Trident and cruise missiles”
2006: “It would be unwise and dangerous for Britain, alone among the nuclear powers, to give up its nuclear deterrent”

Margaret Beckett
1994: “The ownership of nuclear weapons seems to be spreading very dangerous”
2006: “We cannot rule out future threats from nuclear armed opponents. We need to maintain a minimum but credible nuclear capability to deter them if necessary”

Gordon Brown:
1984: “Unacceptable, expensive, economically wasteful and military unsound”
2006: “In an insecure world, we must and will always have the strength to take all necessary long-term decisions for stability and security”

Going back to Blair, It would’ve been a better message to say that the UK will eventually phase out Nuclear weapons but he didn’t. Dr Hans Blix (the former UN weapons inspector) attacked Britain and other permanent members of the UN Security Council - America, China, Russia and France - for failing to comply with their obligations under the NPT by failing to do more to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.

He stresses strong feelings of frustration at the way nuclear nations "are in the process" of developing new types of weapons rather than examining how they could manage defence needs with non-nuclear weaponry.

The other nuclear states (taken from the Independent)
* US: 10,000 warheads, Trident fleet being extended to 2,040 but developing "mini-nukes" for tactical battlefield use
* FRANCE: 482 warheads on air-to-surface missiles and ballistic missiles on subs being modernised
* RUSSIA: Ageing arsenal of 15,000 warheads which it is seeking to put into storage
* CHINA: Unknown, but thought to have 100 to 500 nukes, mostly ageing, keen to avoid race with US
* ISRAEL: 200 warheads, getting nuclear-capable subs from Germany
* INDIA: 150 warheads, has not tested since 1998 but recently tested missiles.
* PAKISTAN: 50 warheads. Not tested since 1990s, but tested missiles recently.
* NORTH KOREA: Tested first nuclear bomb this year

South Africa, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus have all disarmed