The fifth of BASIC’s 2016 Parliamentary Briefing series relating to the Trident debate focuses on the UK’s role in multilateral nuclear disarmament.
David Cameron announced at the NATO summit in Warsaw on Saturday, “a parliamentary vote [to be held] on July 18 to confirm MP’s support for the renewal of four nuclear submarines capable of providing around the clock cover”. Theresa May is expected to follow through with this decision.
The UK is currently in a state of national soul-searching. The Brexit vote exposed deep rifts in British society and highlighted the need for a large-scale programme of investment and redistribution. The 2014 Scotland Referendum still weighs heavily in the public consciousness, and the prospect of Scottish independence has not disappeared. Pressure is now emerging for a more federal structure. The UK’s influence on the world stage is under threat in the coming months as the country adjusts to an uncertain future outside the EU. The UK will need to find a new direction, forge new and dynamic relationships with Europe, the US and its other allies and reinvest itself into global governance and international organisations like the United Nations. Relying upon a nuclear deterrent for reasons of status is not only dangerous, but could backfire.
Click on the PDF link below for the full report.
The full Parliamentary Briefing series includes:
1) The Inescapable Net: Unmanned Systems in Anti-Submarine Warfare
2) A Primer on Trident’s Cyber Vulnerabilities
3) CASD: Options for Trident patrolling
4) New strategies for UK leadership on multilateral nuclear disarmament
BASIC’s 2016 Parliamentary Briefing series on Trident was made possible by a grant from the Mulberry Trust.