U.K. Lawmakers Worry on Effects of Nuclear Plan

A panel of British lawmakers said today that Prime Minister Tony Blair’s plan to replace the country’s Trident nuclear weapons system could undermine international nonproliferation efforts, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 1).

Downing Street is seeking support from Parliament next week for development of a new $39 billion submarine fleet to carry the nuclear-tipped missiles.

Such a decision could be “seized upon by would-be proliferators to justify their own efforts to acquire nuclear weapons,” the House of Commons Defense Select Committee said in a two-volume report.

It also played down the significance of the government’s pledge to reduce the British nuclear arsenal from 200 to 160 warheads.

Creation of a new missile fleet could indicate that “nuclear weapons are now a permanent feature of the international security environment,” David Broucher, who formerly led the British delegation at the U.N. Disarmament Conference, said in the report.

Blair has argued that it would be “unwise and dangerous” for the United Kingdom to eliminate its nuclear stockpile, in light of the dangers from North Korea, Iran and terrorist organizations.  A decision on replacing existing warheads is not expected until 2009, after Blair has left office, AP reported (Associated Press/New York Times, March 7).

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