Parliamentary Event: A Memo to the next Prime Minster on the Nuclear Question

The issue of the replacement of Trident is already receiving more attention due to speculation about the general election result and it will, anyway, be an issue demanding attention early on in the new government in the context of continuing budgetary pressures and ongoing international strategic priorities. This briefing will lay out the range of options regarding the decision currently scheduled for 2016 for any follow-on nuclear weapon system for the UK including:

Going ahead with like-for-like renewal of the submarine fleet in 2016

Launch of the Trident Commission’s concluding report

BASIC set up the Trident Commission in 2011 as an inquiry into Britain’s nuclear weapon policy. Its final report, published today, represents the collective views of the eight Commission members after engaging in an intense three-year process. The primary purpose of this report is to contribute to an informed and deeper debate on Trident renewal that focuses on national security in its widest sense. We are experiencing rapid strategic change in this century and the relevance of our major defence investments to tomorrow’s threats must be analysed across a wide range of considerations.

A BASIC Guide to Interpreting the Trident Commission’s Concluding Report

BASIC has published its own guide to help interpret the Trident Commission’s concluding report. It draws out the principal messages, and some of the disagreements between the Commission members.

Background Briefing Papers to the Trident Commission Concluding Report

This collection of background papers is published on the same day as the final report from the Commission and can be read alongside it. They are not representative of the views of the Commission but rather of the authors that submitted them. They have fed into the Commission’s deliberations and have been affected by them.

The Trident Commission: Concluding Report

The concluding report from the Trident Commission is aimed to contribute to an informed and deeper debate on Trident renewal that focuses on national security in its widest sense. We are experiencing rapid strategic change in this century and the relevance of our major defence investments to tomorrow’s threats must be analysed across a wide range of considerations.

Behind the Trident Commission Report

The village of Westminster is failing the UK public over Britain’s nuclear weapons policy at this most critical of moments. The Scots are about to vote on whether to leave a Union that is supposedly defended by Trident, and yet Trident is currently the most potent symbol for the SNP of what they claim is wrong with the Union. And the government in London is two years away from a final decision on whether to replace the nuclear weapon system.

Keeping Trident ‘Stops Nuclear Blackmail,’ Claims Cross-Party Commission

he Trident Commission, spearheaded by BASIC, launched its concluding report on July 1st, and it is expected to add significant value to the debate on whether or not to keep Britain’s nuclear deterrent.

Evidence submitted by CND

JANUARY 2013

Summary of evidence submitted by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND):