Britain and the European Union
This page covers developments concerning nuclear weapons and other weapons
of mass destruction in Britain and the European
Union.
British Nuclear Policy & Trident Renewal
The 'Initial Gate'
decision on whether to proceed with the next stage of procuring a replacement for the UK's Trident nuclear weapons system - originally due to have been taken in September 2009 - was finally announced on 18 May 2011. It gave the green light for the next stages of procurement to be undertaken (up to 15% of the budget) and revealed that when inflation is taken into account the price tag for the new submarine programme is likely to be £25 billion - almost double the £11-14 billion estimate announced in 2006. Alongside the Initial Gate announcement came the news that, in line with the Coalition Agreement under which it was agreed that the Liberal Democrats could continue to make the case for alternatives, an 18-month study to review the “costs, feasibility and credibility of alternative systems and postures” would be undertaken.
In its October 2010 Strategic Defence & Security Review (SDSR), the Coalition government announced that it would be delaying the 'Main Gate' decision on Trident by four years to 2016, thereby pushing back the the date that the first new submarine wll come into service to 2028. However, despite this delay being championed by many as a success for the Liberal Democrats, it is clear that the work of replacing the existing submarines has already begun and in November 2011 it was revealed that £2billion has been spent on new projects for UK nuclear weapons, well in advance of the Main Gate decision. Moreover, a 3 August 2011 report by the Defence Select Committee - a cross-party group of MPs - criticised the government for its “rushed” and “badly done” SDSR which prompted Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy to say “events have exposed the mismatch between policy ambition and the resources provided by ministers". Commenting on the report, Guardian Security Editor Richard Norton-Taylor identified the “reluctance to question Defence Secretary Liam Fox's determination to replace the Trident fleet of nuclear missile submarines” as a particular problem.
In addition, the revelation in October 2010 of BAE Systems locking in funding for aircraft carriers has caused questions to be raised over the contracts for Trident replacement, particularly the need to avoid ‘no get-out’ clauses in Trident initial and main gate contracts that would make replacement irreversible regardless of national security needs, international disarmament developments or other UK financial priorities and needs. The November 2010 signing of the UK-French Declaration on Defence and Security Co-operation also casts further doubt of the UK government's commitment to fulfilling its disarmament obligations under the NPT.
Acronym Analysis and reporting
- Recent Progress in Nuclear Disarmament & Security: Britain's Key Role, Nuclear Security Briefings, July 2011
- Trident: The Initial Gate Decision, Nuclear Security Briefings, May 2011
- Trident Renewal section in Summer 2011 International News Review
- United Kingdom section in Spring 2011 International News Review
- Nuclear Weapons: The State of Play in 2011, Nuclear Security Briefings, February 2011
- Deterrence in the Age of Nuclear Proliferation, Nuclear Security Briefings, March 2011
- Rhetoric and reality, contradictions in the midst of change: The UK government role at the 2010 NPT Review Conference, by Kat Barton, January 2011
- Trident: Still the Wrong Weapon at the
Wrong Time for the Wrong Reasons, by Nick Ritchie, Disarmament
Diplomacy, No.90, Spring 2009
- Renewing Trident: Can the UK's Atomic
Weapons Establishment Cope? Henrietta Wilson, Disarmament Diplomacy,
No.88, Summer 2008
- Britain's
new nuclear abolitionists, by Rebecca Johnson, Bulletin of the Atomic
Scientists, 15 July 2008
- Worse Than Irrelevant, by Rebecca Johnson, Nicola Butler and Stephen Pullinger, 2006
Recent Disarmament Documentation
- Trident nuclear deterrent upgrade 'nonsensical', says liberal thinktank, Nick Hopkins, The Guardian, 5 March 2012
- Trident: at what cost would an independent Scotland refuse the nuclear option? Scotland on Sunday, 8 January 2012
- MoD spends £2bn on nuclear weapons ahead of Trident renewal decision, Rob Edwards, The Guardian, 27 November 2011
- Dual-use nuclear subs 'a game-changer', 21 September 2011
- MPs hit out at ‘rushed’ defence shake-up, 3 August 2011
- Defence Select Committee report on 2010 Strategic Defence & Security (SDSR) and National Security Strategy (NSS), 3 August 2011
- New Trident fleet cost will top £25billion, 18 May 2011
- UK Cabinet Office Trident Alternatives Study Terms of Reference, 20 May 2011
- Initial Gate Parliamentary Report, 18 May 2011
- Cameron and Sarkozy hail UK-France defence treaties, BBC News, 2 November 2010
- UK–France Summit 2010 Declaration on Defence and Security Co-operation, 2 November 2010
- Trident to be delayed for up to 5 years, Financial Times, 18 October 2010
- David Cameron to delay Trident replacement, The Guardian, 19 October 2010
- UK Strategic Defence & Security (SDSR) 2010 (see pg 37 onwards), 19 October 2010
- UK National Security Strategy (NSS) 2010, 19 October 2010
- Sir Richard Dannatt questions need for British nuclear deterrent, Andrew Woodcock, The Indepedent/Press Association, 23 February 2010 (Listen to the original interview on BBC Radio 4)
- UK must not rush to replace nuclear deterrent, ex-official says, Global Security Newswire/Press Association, 22 January 2010
- General Sir Richard Dannatt: British nuclear deterrent is "not forever", James Kirkup, Daily Telegraph, 20 January 2010
- Don’t replace Trident says ex-army chief, North West Evening Mail, 21 January 2010
Conference on Trident and International Law: Scotland's Obligations
This conference on Trident and International Law was organised in Edinburgh
by the Acronym Institute, Trident Ploughshares and the Peace and Justice
Centre. A bookof the conference entitled 'Trident and International Law: Scotland's Obligations' is now available via Amazon here.
Proliferation in Parliament
A selection of questions and debates on nuclear and missile defence issues
from the UK Parliament.
Previous editions of Proliferation in Parliament are available at www.acronym.org.uk/parliament.
A digest of UK and international news stories relevant to UK and NATO
nuclear weapons issues.
Edition 15, Summer 2011 - International News
Read the overview here
1) Arms control & missile defence
2) The existing regime: NPT implementation, CTBT entry into force & fissile materials negotiation
3) UK Trident renewal
4) Proliferation Challenges and Updates
i) Iran
ii) North Korea
iii) Potential New Proliferators: Syria and Myanmar (Burma)
iv) India & Pakistan
5) Other disarmament news
Edition 14, Spring 2011 - International News
The Acronym Institute’s International Nuclear Weapons & Non-Proliferation News, comprises a digest of news on global nuclear weapons policy issues as well as wider disarmament developments and proliferation challenges. Read the overview of the Spring 2011 edition here
1) Nuclear crisis in Japan
2) Proliferation Challenges and Updates
i) Iran
ii) North Korea
iii) India & Pakistan
iv) Israel
v) Myanmar/Burma
vi) Syria
3) New START
4) NATO nuclear policy
5) The United Kingdom
6) Prospects for nuclear disarmament
7) Wikileaks
8) Other News
Edition 13, Spring/Summer 2010 - International News
Read the overview here
- Nuclear Disarmament Assessments
- NPT Review Conference
US Nuclear Developments
- Agreement on New START
- US Nuclear Posture Review
- Nuclear Security Summit
- Obama assessed one year on
- Continuing controversy: Missile Defence & Space
- NATO Nuclear Weapons
Proliferation Challenges
- Iranian dispute continues
- Nuclear North Korea: Tensions mount
- Israeli nuclear weapons in the spotlight
- Nuclear dealings: India & Pakistan
- New Proliferators
- In Other News
Edition 12, Autumn/Winter 2009-2010 - International News
Read the overview here
1. Preparing the way for nuclear disarmament
2. Progress stalls at CD
3. Prospects for the NPT
4. US nuclear spending and delayed posture review
5. START Follow-on
6. Contradictory signals on missile defence
7. New IAEA Director-General and increased pressure on Iran
8. North Korea
9. India & Pakistan
10. In other news
11. People
Edition 11, Autumn/Winter 2009-2010 - British News
- Trident Renewal: Developments and Concerns
1.1 Letters on Trident Replacement / Reductions
1.2 Gordon Brown Announces a Possible Reduction in the Number of Trident Submarines
1.3 Reactions to Brown’s Announcement
1.4 Blockade of Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment
- UK Nuclear Weapons Infrastructure and Safety Issues
2.1 Planning Applications
- Launch of New “Top Level” Cross-Party Group
- SNP Party Conference – Trident and Scottish Independence
- Calls for the UK to take Further Disarmament Steps
- Chilcot Inquiry on the Iraq War
- People
7.1 Baroness Catherine Ashton appointed first EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
7.2 Remembering friends
Highlights
British News
International News
Previous editions of Nuclear Non-Proliferation News are available at:
www.acronym.org.uk/news
Key Documents
- Trident Oped by David Davis MP,
23 July 2009
- Prime Minister Gordon Brown announces
Road to 2010 plan, 16 July 2009
- Prime Minister Gordon Brown comments
on nuclear weapons, 10 July 2009
- Prime Minister Gordon Brown pre-G8
summit briefing, 8 July 2009
- British Government announces Defence
Review, 7 July 2009
- 'Shared Responsibilities: A National
Security Strategy for the United Kingdom, IPPR, 30 June 2009
- UK Secretary of State for Defence
John Hutton address to IPPR, 27 April 2009
- UK Defence Secretary John Hutton
on Nuclear Submarines, 24 March 2009
- UK Public Accounts Committee report
on Trident, 19 March 2009
- Prime Minister Brown speech on Nuclear
Energy and Proliferation, 17 March 2009
- Lifting the Nuclear Shadow, Launch
of UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office Policy Information Paper, 4 February
2009
- Secretary of State for Defence John
Hutton speech on The Defence Industry in the North-West: Investing in
the Future, Barrow-in-Furness, 31 January 2009
- General calls
for Trident rethink, former NATO Commander General Jack Sheehan
interview with the BBC, 29 January 2009
- Letter to the Times by Field Marshal
Lord Bramall, General Lord Ramsbotham and General Sir Hugh Beach,
16 January 2009
- A world without nuclear
weapons, UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband, www.guardian.co.uk,
8 December 2008.
- Preventing a New Age of Nuclear
Insecurity, The Rt Hon William Hague MP, 23 July 2008.
- Start worrying and learn to ditch
the bomb, Letter to The Times by Douglas Hurd, Malcolm Rifkind, David
Owen and George Robertson, 30 June 2008
- Federation of American Scientists
reports removal of US nuclear weapons from the UK, 26 June 2008
Background
On March 14, 2007, the UK Parliament had its first debate and vote on
renewal of Britain's nuclear weapon system, Trident. Whilst Tony Blair's
government won the vote, it was forced to rely on the support of the Conservatives.
Despite this 88 Labour MPs voted against the motion and the government
was forced to make important concessions on future parliamentary scrutiny
and decision-making on Trident.
In response to a proposed amendment from former Labour Minister John
Denham MP, Blair was forced to confirm that "... it is always open to
us to come back and look at these issues. He [Denham] is right to suggest
that when we get to the gateway stage-between 2012 and 2014-when we let
the main contracts for design and construction, it will always be open
to Parliament to take a decision."
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett also specified, "Further decisions
will in any case be needed on the precise design of the submarines, on
whether we need four or three, on whether to renew or replace the warhead,
and on whether to participate in any American programme to develop a successor
to the D5 missile... As I have said, this Government will ensure that
there are regular reports to Parliament as the programme proceeds, and
we will give the Select Committee our full co-operation as it maintains
its regular scrutiny of these issues."
UK Defence Secretary Speech to the Conference on Disarmament, February
2008
Secretary of State for Defence Des Browne has renewed the UK Government's
commitment to "have a world free of nuclear weapons" and proposed
to "host a conference for technical experts from all five recognised
nuclear states, to develop technologies for nuclear disarmament".
Browne's speech to the Conference on
Disarmament draws on then Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth
Affairs Margaret Beckett's speech in June 2007 calling for a World
Free of Nuclear Weapons.
Acronym Institute Analysis and Reporting on the Trident Vote
- Blair wins Trident vote after telling
UK Parliament that the NPT gives Britain the Right to have nuclear weapons,
Disarmament Diplomacy, No.84, Spring 2007
- Britain divided as the Conservative
Party wins the Trident vote for Tony Blair: but the decision is not
irreversible, Initial reaction from Westminster, by Rebecca Johnson,
with input from Nicola Butler and Martin Butcher, March 14, 2007.
- UK Parliament Debate on Trident:
Excerpts, March 24, 2007
For more information on the UK's Vote and the Government White Paper
on Trident see the Acronym Insitute's webpage on
Trident .
See also: previous Acronym Institute Coverage of
UK Nuclear Policy.
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European Union (2006 & before)
For coverage of negotiations between the EU3 and Iran, see our Iran page
at: http://www.acronym.org.uk/wmd/index.htm#iran.
The following study, written by Rebecca Johnson on behalf of the Acronym
Institute and ISIS-Europe, with
research assistance from Stephen Pullinger and Aline Dewaele, was commissioned
in 2006 by the European Parliament Directorate-General for External Policies
of the Union.
"The study analyses Europe's space programmes and argues for an effective
European Space Policy to manage the civil-military interface and national-regional
interests to enable Europe to benefit from a more effective coordination
of technologies and assets for the purpose of enhancing European and international
security, while preventing destabilising developments, such as the testing,
deployment or use of anti-satellite weapons or weapons in and from space.
Articles and Publications
EU Strategy against Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction
- The Challenge of Biological Weapons:
Proposals for Greater EU Effectiveness, by Ulla Jasper, Disarmament
Diplomacy, Issue No.78, July/August 2004.
- The EU and the NPT: Testing the New
European Nonproliferation Strategy, by Clara Portela, Disarmament
Diplomacy, Issue No.78, July/August 2004.
- The European Union: Seeking Common
Ground for Tackling Weapons of Mass Destruction by Stephen Pullinger
and Gerrard Quille, Disarmament Diplomacy, Issue No. 74, December 2003.
- 'An International Order based on
Effective Multilateralism,' European Council, December 12, 2003.
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