Alex Stevenson, in this Politics.co.uk article, wrote about the relationship between the US and the UK, citing nuclear weapons as one of the connections. The article quotes Paul Ingram, Executive Director of BASIC, saying, “If there was a narrative that emerged that with limited resources the British need to focus their attention on capabilities that are more valuable to the Americans, that group-think could shift quite quickly.”
The world is getting restless with some states' attachment to nuclear weapons. So why is Britain going out of its way to deepen its nuclear relationship with the United States?
“The great alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom is rooted in shared interests and shared values,” President Obama proclaimed with UK Prime Minister David Cameron by his side.
This article quotes Paul Ingram on the Mutual Defense Agreement (MDA) between the US and UK:
“The manifestation of the deep political, cultural, and philosophical relationship between [the US and the UK]”
“[But] how can it possibly be effective to criticize North Korea for allegedly supplying nuclear and missile technology to states like Syria and Iran when we trade between ourselves technologies directly relevant to constructing nuclear warheads, missiles, and submarines?”
Paul Ingram was quoted in an article about the UK's confirmation about renewing the Mutual Delfence Agreement (MDA) with the United States.
He said: “In governing exceptional nuclear weapon collaboration between the US and UK that has contested legal basis, the MDA is the manifestation of the deep political, cultural and philosophical relationship between the two states.”
Paul Ingram was quoted in this GSN article on the secrecy surrounding the U.S.-UK Mutual Defense Agreement:
“With the deepening of technical collaboration that shapes the procurement decisions here in London over nuclear weapons program, in a manner that stretches or breaks Article 1 of the [Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty], it is high time we took this relationship and its consequences for international security seriously.”
BASIC's Executive Director, Paul Ingram was quoted in an article about the Mutual Defence Agreement (MDA) signed between US and UK officials.
Here's what he said: “With the deepening of technical collaboration that shapes the procurement decisions here in London over nuclear weapons programmes, in a manner that stretches or breaks Article 1 of the NPT, it is high time we took this relationship and its consequences for international security seriously.”
Tomorrow the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee will host a hearing on the P5+1 negotiations with Iran. Witnesses will include Wendy Sherman, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and the U.S.’ lead negotiator on the Iran nuclear talks, and David Cohen, the Treasury Department's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Last weekend the six-month deadline (July 20th) for the interim Joint Plan of Action passed without a final deal being reached.