The British parliament voted on Wednesday to renew its nuclear
weapons system by 409 votes to 161.
After a six-hour debate in the House of Commons, Prime Minister
Tony Blair's government won with a majority of 248 and will this
spend up to ￡20 billion (about US$38 billion) to replace the UK's
Trident nuclear deterrent with a set of cutting-edge nuclear
missile submarines.
According to Sky News, around 85 Labor MPs rebelled against the
vote. Unsurprisingly, given the deep rift within the Labor Party,
two government officials -- deputy leader of the House of Commons
Nigel Griffiths and ministerial aide Jim Devine – resigned their
posts over the issue.
Ahead of the vote, a further body blow had been dealt to the
government when two more MPs Stephen Pound and Chris Ruane resigned
as ministerial aides, due to their opposing the Trident
renewal.
The Conservatives handed the government a victory by backing the
proposals, after the rebel Labour MPs had sided with the Liberal
Democrats and other minority parties.
However, this victory will hardly make Blairites ebullient since
this dependence on the Conservatives is certain to be exploited by
the opposition during the next general election, ahead of which
Labour already trail the Conservatives in the polls.?
The Guardian reported last-ditch efforts by senior
government figures, including Tony Blair and supposed successor
Gordon Brown, to minimize the rebellion given growing dissent above
expected whip-counts.
The rebellion grew from young members like Stephen Pound and
spread to older veterans like Roy Hattersley who outlined how he
had once supported the creation of the nuclear deterrent but now
stood opposed to it for the same reasons. Their argument is based
on the fact that the world is no longer engulfed in the Cold War
and that nuclear weapons provide an antiquated and ineffective
method of defense.
On Wednesday, Blair said during Prime Minister's Question Time
that Britain had to maintain an independent nuclear deterrent,
adding that work should start immediately after a 17 year gap in
bringing in the new systems.
Last December, Blair stated that it would be "unwise and
dangerous" for Britain to give up its nuclear weapons in an
uncertain world.
He outlined plans for Britain to design and build a new fleet of
nuclear missile submarines, whilst depleting Britain's stock of
nuclear warheads from 200 to 160.
According to the White Paper on the nuclear deterrent -- The
Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent -- published
last December, replacing the existing submarines and extending the
life of the Trident missiles was still Britain's best hope at
deterring future nuclear threats to Britain, in terms of
effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.
Britain has always had an operational nuclear deterrent since
1956. As it stands, Britain relies on a naval nuclear weapons
system: the Trident D5 missile located aboard four Vanguard class
submarines.
(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn, March 15, 2007)
