Two-faced UK 'fuelling nuclear double standards'
Lack of British clarity on future of Trident nuclear deterrent 'aiding proliferation', MPs claim
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Sunday, 14, Jun 2009 05:20
Britain's lack of clarity on the future of the Trident missile system is helping to aid nuclear proliferation, an influential committee of MPs has said.
Refusals by Iran to stop its uranium enrichment programme and North Korea's insistence it will weaponise its plutonium stocks are down in part to no commitment from the UK to disarm, the foreign affairs committee said.
The committee said the group of five recognised nuclear powers had "failed to live up to its nuclear disarmament commitments".
"We commend the steps that the government has taken to scale down and de-escalate the UK’s nuclear arsenal," MPs wrote.
"We welcome the prime minister's announcement that the new Trident submarines are to carry fewer missiles than the current boats, and we recommend that the government should do more to highlight this and other nuclear disarmament steps which it has taken."
Committee chairman Mike Gapes added that this apparent contradiction had also allowed states outside of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) - India, Israel and Pakistan - to develop weapons of their own.
"We call on all five of the recognised nuclear weapons states to commit to further progress on nuclear disarmament," he said.
Welcoming the dialogue between US president Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, Mr Gapes said hopes were now turning towards next year's NPT review conference to establish a definitive timetable.
On a UK level he called on Gordon Brown to set out a clear framework under which the Trident nuclear deterrent could be disabled.
A lack of information about the scale and operational arrangements of the Trident force made it difficult to check the government's claims that it retained only a 'minimum' nuclear deterrent, he said
"We support the government's aim of bringing them in, although we are sceptical about prospects for this," the committee added.