Anti-Submarine Warfare

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Britain’s political parties and their nuclear postures

In 2016, for only the second time in Britain’s history as a nuclear power, Parliament is expected to vote to decide the future of the United Kingdom’s strategic nuclear deterrent. Britain’s nuclear policy is heavily influenced by the ideological positions of Britain’s three dominant political parties. Each of the parties has a spread of opinion within them.

NEW REPORT: Trident in UK Politics and Public Opinion

BASIC releases today a new report examining Trident in UK politics and public opinion on nuclear weapons, involving a comprehensive review of the polls over the last eight years and including two new polls released today. This comes on the eve of the publication of the government’s Trident Alternatives Report (TAR), to be published on Tuesday and debated in Parliament on Wednesday. The BASIC report is intended to complement the TAR with the political and public opinion context.

Commentary on the UK Trident Alternatives Review

The government published its Trident Alternatives Review earlier today. This short briefing gives an immediate response. BASIC will later this year be publishing the results of the Trident Commission, considering the broader issues that form the context of the decision.

Today’s technical government review has highly political roots in the desire by Liberal Democrats to ask two key (strategic, political) questions:

Defence chiefs back Trident replacement as LibDems declare coalition dividing line

The Herald Scotland highlights the political divide over the government's Trident Alternatives Review. The article references BASIC's report, 'Trident in UK Politics and Public Opinion'.

Read the full article on the Herald Scotland's website:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/defence-chiefs-back-trident-replacement-as-libdems-declare-coalition-dividing-line.1373955077

Trident: the Nuclear Jobcentre

Richard Norton-Taylor writes about changing assumptions about nuclear deterrence and nuclear possession. He argues that treating Trident as an employment scheme will leave Britain ill-equipped for the real threat: terrorism. He references the BASIC Trident Commission's recent report by John Simpson:

tech

The UK and Armed Drones

While the majority of drones are still used for surveillance activities and their use widespread for reconnaissance and civilian purposes around the world, there has in recent years been the emergence of attack drones by three countries – the United States, Israel and the UK.