PM unveils nuclear weapons plans

Prime Minister Tony Blair has told the Commons that the UK's current Trident missile system will have to be replaced.

Speaking to the House of Commons, Mr Blair said that the decision to maintain the government's independent nuclear power deterrent was "fully consistent with all our international obligations".

However, he also said that Britain's stock of nuclear warheads would be reduced by 20% and that submarine numbers could be reduced from four to three.

The details were included in the White Paper on the nuclear deterrent. The UK's current nuclear capable submarines will potentially reach the end of operational service from the early 2020s. It is estimated that it would take 17 years to introduce into service any submarine-based replacement, and Mr Blair said that that would mean the initial steps would have to take place in 2007.

Mr Blair said that there were "many complex technical, financial and military issues" to be debated in respect of the decision. However, he said: "None of them obscure or alter the fundamental political judgment at the crux of it. Britain has had an independent nuclear deterrent for the last half century.

"The government's judgment, on balance, is that thought the Cold War is over, we cannot be certain in the decades ahead that a major nuclear threat to our strategic interests will not emerge; that there is also a new and potentially hazardous threat from states such as North Korea which claims already to have developed nuclear weapons or Iran which is in breach of its non-proliferation duties; that there is a possible connection between some of those states and international terrorism; that it is noteworthy that no present nuclear power is or is even considering divesting itself of its nuclear capability unilaterally; and that in these circumstances, it would be unwise and dangerous for Britain, alone for any of the nuclear powers, to give up its independent nuclear deterrent."

MPs will vote on the plans in the Commons in March next year.

Many Labour MPs are understood to be opposed to the plans, but the Conservatives are expected to back the plans.

The Liberal Democrats released their own proposals on Britain's nuclear weapons system on Monday, which included proposals to reduce Britain's nuclear weapons by half, retaining only up to 100 warheads and putting off a final decision on the current Trident system until 2014.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said: "There is a measurable danger that if North Korea and Iran are confirmed over the next decade as nuclear states, they will set in train a course of nuclear proliferation which will materially alter the strategic situation.

"It would be unwise at this time for Britain to abandon its nuclear weapons altogether. But a deterrent of approximately half the current size, and extending the life of the current submarine system, would be sufficient to provide for Britain's ultimate security until we have more certainty about proliferation."

(KMcA)