This is a hard question to answer because of the complexity in trying to predict the future. We have some idea of what international security challenges we may face in one, five, and even ten years time, but further than that our predictions become educated guesses.
Modernisation
U.K. Independent Panel: Retain Trident Subs, But Explore Delay Options
The 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. An article by Elaine Grossman in the National Journal explores the various viewpoints concerning the report's findings, and emphasizes BASIC's involvement as the organizers of the report. The article does not argue a stance, but rather clearly and in some detail lays out the arguments and counterarguments advances by the report and those in opposition to its conclusions.
Nuclear deterrent ‘must be renewed’
The 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. An article in the Halifax Courier considers the report's findings from multiple viewpoints, including commentary from Admiral Zambellas, First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, who argues that the UK requires a “credible deterrent” which means a full complement of four nuclear submarines and two aircraft carriers.
Westminster pushes one million people into poverty
The 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. A press release by the Scottish National Party responded to the Trident Commission by arguing that one million people live in poverty in Scotland, while at the same time Westminster wishes to spend a significant amount of money on a Trident renewal programme.
Trident fury: As Scotland is hit by public service cuts, UK government report calls for £130 billion nuclear replacement
The 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. An article in The Daily Record neatly demonstrates the opposition to the Trident programme and the Commission's findings by SNP Politicians. The article further states that the cost of the Trident successor programme would be £130 billion, which is a massively inflated figure from what the report itself found, £20-30 billion over a period of twenty years.
A like-for-like Trident replacement isn’t justifiable in terms of security or cost
The 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. An article by Danny Alexander in The Guardian largely agrees with the findings of the Commission, but argues that Continuous at Sea Deterrence should be scaled back by cutting the number of Successor submarines from four to three.
UK’s nuclear deterrent entirely dependent on the US – crossparty report
The 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. An article by Richard Norton-Taylor in The Guardian highlights a less noticed finding in the report which states that the UK's nuclear deterrent is fundamentally dependent on US acquiescence. Norton-Taylor argues that without US help as enshrined in the Mutual Defence Agreement, the UK's nuclear deterrent would last months at best.
Trident report: UK at risk from nuclear attack
The 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. An article in The Scotsman summarizes the findings of the report and includes commentary by Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon who argues that the September referendum on Scottish independence is an opportunity to abolish Trident from Scotland before it has to share in the cost of the programme.