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PRESS RELEASE20 March 2002 Hoon Suggests U.K. Nukes Will Counter WMD Mar. 20, 2002 – U.K. Defense Minister Geoff Hoon said today that Britain is prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend its troops against “weapons of mass destruction” (WMD), according to BBC news. Hoon said that several “states of concern,” including Iran, Iraq, Libya, and North Korea, possess WMD that could threaten British troops. While he did not cite a direct threat from any of these countries against British interests, Hoon questioned whether they would be sufficiently deterred by the U.K nuclear arsenal from using their weapons in combat. “There are clearly some states who would be deterred … States of concern, I would be much less confident about,” Hoon said. He later declared, “They can be absolutely confident that in the right conditions we would be willing to use our nuclear weapons.” This announcement appears to be a decisive shift in U.K. nuclear policy. In Britain’s Strategic Defense Review in 1998, the government restated its assurance from 1978 that “we will not use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear weapon state… unless it attacks us, our Allies or a state to which we have a security commitment, in association or alliance with a nuclear weapon state.” Such an assurance from all nuclear weapon states has helped sustain the health of the nuclear non-proliferation regime. However, after the release of the SDR, the UK government refined its position on using nuclear weapons to retaliate against a biological or chemical weapon attack, stating, “A state which chose to use chemical or biological weapons against the United Kingdom should expect us to exercise our right of self defense and to make a proportionate response.” This deliberate ambiguity suggested that potential nuclear use to counter WMD has not been ruled out. “Hoon’s statement shows the U.K. government backing out of its long-standing commitment to sustain and reinforce non-proliferation efforts,” said Ian Davis, Director of BASIC. “Using nuclear weapons to counter other WMD not only devalues the deterrence role of nuclear weapons, but also diminishes British leadership in arms control efforts.” Hoon’s testimony to parliament follows several days after the highly-publicized release of the contents of the Nuclear Posture Review conducted by the United States. Washington intends to begin serious efforts to develop a low-yield nuclear weapon that might be used to counter a WMD attack. Foreign governments have an opportunity to discuss the recent nuclear policy declarations from Washington and London at a meeting of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signatories in April. “Governments should be concerned about the deteriorating arms control climate, and should question these policies,” said Christine Kucia, analyst at BASIC. “Addressing these inflammatory statements before they become action is key.” For more
information please contact
"UK 'Prepared to Use Nuclear Weapons," BBC News, 20 March 2002 Secrecy and Dependence: The UK Trident System in the 21st Century, by Mark Bromley, BASIC Research Report 2001.3
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