Trident

A lot of people have asked where I stand on the replacement of Trident.

I do believe that there should be the fullest possible consultation, both within the Labour Party and among the general public, before any such decision is taken. I was a signatory of a letter to the Prime Minister about consultation, and have signed the House of Commons motion on this.

My personal view is that we should not be replacing the Trident system. I will argue that case, and will vote against the replacement of Trident when the House of Commons debates this matter, as it probably will at some point in the next few months.

In the last session of Parliament I put down a motion on Trident which sets out my opinions.

TRIDENT AND THE NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY

That this House notes that the Government when elected in 1997 committed itself to working for multilateral nuclear disarmament; further notes that the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) commits nuclear weapon states to negotiate the elimination of their nuclear arsenals and that the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the use or threatened use of nuclear weapons affirms an obligation `to negotiate in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament'; further notes that any programme to replace Trident nuclear weapons systems would pre-empt and undermine the effectiveness of such negotiations; and calls upon the Government to support the international rule of law by implementing the obligations of the NPT which would preclude a replacement of Trident.

February 2007

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