Evidence submitted by the Admiral Lord West

MAY 2011

We live in an unpredictable and potentially extremely chaotic and dangerous world. Hence, the UK must not elect to forego its independent nuclear deterrent.

Maintaining the present Trident ballistic missile system which necessitates the replacement of the SSBN’s is the best option assuming the UK is to remain a nuclear weapon state.The other options, in fact, are not as cheap or practical as their supporters claim.

The UK should put more effort into publicising what we have done to support global nuclear disarmament and how it compares with other nations and push for greater transparency over true numbers of warheads held. We should make no further reductions until we see a large shift in this direction by others whilst encouraging the US to lead in this area of negotiation.

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