During the course of its work, the Commission will seek submissions of evidence from interested parties. Written submissions, with the permission of those submitting evidence, will be published here and organised by theme.These are the initial questions that we are seeking submissions on, and we will be adding more as the commission’s work progresses:
BASIC and the Federation of American Scientists hosted a joint discussion on the state of the UK and European nuclear weapons debates, and the importance of this in a global context.
The SDSR was published last week and now we know: the in-service date for the Trident Successor submarines is to…
Trident's costs could be spiralling, as reported this week, though it may be too early to tell. Either way, the government is protecting this huge and most controversial military procurement project whilst deeply controversial welfare cuts are being debated. It is not considering cheaper alternatives even as the MoD itself suffers.
On Thursday October 15th, BASIC and the Federation of American Scientists will hosted a joint discussion on the state of the UK and European nuclear weapons debates, and the importance of this in a global context.
Once again Trident emerges as a key flag issue that establishes where candidates for the Labour leadership election stand. Andy Burnham has perhaps the most difficult task, being deeply sceptical about nuclear weapons personally but claiming that current international instability, and particularly Russian threats to European security, means it is not now the time for Britain to consider abandoning the weapons.
Whichever way you look at it, it seems that the fiscal hawks and disarmament doves have been blown out of the sky and have sunk into a deep blue ocean where the Trident Successor programme stares them head-on.
The Conservatives fought the election with a clear policy of like-for-like renewal of the Trident nuclear weapon system, and now have a majority in Parliament and fully control the government. The Labour Party also contested the election on a similar policy. If there was any doubt prior to the election that Trident renewal would go ahead, it is surely answered unequivocally now.