Thread: Trident Nuclear Programme to be renewed without debate?

Trident treaty may be renewed without parliamentary scrutiny | UK news | The Observer

Faslane naval base in Clyde is home to nuclear submarines armed with Trident missiles. Photograph: Murdo Macleod

The UK is poised to quietly ratify a defence treaty that critics say will see it become more dependent on US expertise for its multi-billion pound Trident nuclear weapons programme, without the agreement being scrutinised by MPs.
Nuclear proliferation experts have expressed concern that the US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement, laid before parliament earlier this month and due to be extended for a further 10 years, may be adopted without debate.
Under revised terms, existing cooperation on the design of the UK’s nuclear warheads will be extended to allow similar collaboration on the nuclear reactors that power the new fleet of submarines carrying the UK’s Trident ballistic missiles.
The future of Trident is due to be decided in 2016. All three main political parties back the programme.
Dr Nick Ritchie, a lecturer in international security at the University of York, said the sharing of nuclear weapons technology between the UK and the US was a form of “legalised proliferation” that raised questions about the relationship between the allies.
“It’s controversial with some parts of the electorate because of the extent to which it gives implicit and explicit leverage to Washington,” Ritchie said. “It means the UK has to buy in to US security strategy, come what may, even if it has proved disastrous in some parts of the world.”
“The Mutual Defence Agreement shows just how much Britain depends on the US for its nuclear weapons,” said Peter Burt, director of the Nuclear Information Service. “Far from being an ‘independent deterrent’, virtually every element in the UK’s Trident nuclear weapons programme is propped up by American technology and knowhow.”
The MDA was first signed in 1958. Its terms are reviewed and renewed by the US and UK governments every 10 years. Previous governments have been keen to stifle debate about the renewal of the MDA. “A debate on the renewal of the MDA would be used by some as an opportunity to raise wider questions concerning the possible renewal of the nuclear deterrent … and our obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty,” noted a 2004 internal MoD briefing to Labour defence ministers released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Nearly 20 MPs have signed an early day motion expressing concerns about renewal of the agreement. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour MP for Islington North, has asked the House of Commons backbench business committee to consider allocating time for debate on the issue.
The Ministry of Defence said it was for parliament to decide if it wanted to scrutinise the agreement. The proposed amendments did not extend the arrangement beyond that outlined in 1958 and the UK would continue to maintain its own nuclear weapons programme.
“Cooperation under the MDA has been of considerable mutual benefit, allowing the UK to significantly reduce costs while maintaining an operationally independent deterrent,” a spokeswoman said. “It is in the national defence and security interests of both countries to continue.”