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Subject: UK to cut Trident subs
maruben    9/23/2009 11:03:49 AM
BBC World Service Last updated: 23 september, 2009 - 13:19 GMT UK to cut Trident subs Britain intends to build only three, and not the planned four, replacement Trident nuclear submarines. The decision could cut around $5bn from the defence budget, but the government is keen to emphasise the contribution the decision will make to the nuclear disarmament debate. The proposed cuts come as the government searches for ways to reduce the massive deficit in public finances. Kate Hudson, chair of the Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament in Britain, and Mark Fitzpatrick, the director of the non-proliferation and disarmament programme at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London discuss the significance of this announcement and its implications. First broadcast 23 September 2009
 
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maruben    Brown offers to cut Trident nuclear submarines by a quarter   9/23/2009 11:05:30 AM

Brown offers to cut Trident nuclear submarines by a quarter

Prime minister to tell UN that Britain will build three replacement subs rather than four

A Royal Navy Trident nuclear submarine.http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pixies/2009/5/1/1241137092766/A-Royal-Navy-Trident-nucl-001.jpg" width="460" height="276" />

A Royal Navy Trident nuclear submarine. Photograph: Corbis

 

 

Gordon Brown will add momentum to moves towards nuclear disarmament tomorrow by announcing that he intends Britain to build only three, and not the planned four, replacement Trident nuclear submarines.

 

The move, which could cut billions from the defence budget over the next decade, was welcomed by anti-nuclear campaigners today, who said it was a "step in the right direction" but did not go far enough.

 

In a speech to the UN general assembly today, Brown will say it is time for "statesmanship, not brinkmanship" on nuclear disarmament if the ambition to create a nuclear-free world is genuine.

 

He will outline the details of Britain's unilateral gesture at a UN security council nuclear non-proliferation conference hosted by Barack Obama in New York tomorrow.

 

The UK has already reduced the overall explosive power of its nuclear arsenal by 75% since the cold war. Sources added that savings to the Ministry of Defence budget might be £3bn to £5bn, and even more in reduced running costs. But they stressed that the Trident move was not primarily designed to cut costs, and savings may be hard to predict.

 

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) welcomed the news but called for the government to abandon plans to renew Trident.

 

"By failing to disarm, we encourage proliferation and put ourselves ? and the whole world ? at greater risk," Kate Hudson, the CND chairman, said. "The government has understood this, and has taken a step in the right direction. But the disarmament process cannot stop here ? the government must press ahead courageously and scrap Trident."

 

The announcement has been agreed with senior officials at the MoD, and the issue will be referred by Brown to the national security cabinet committee for endorsement by December.

 

The committee will also look at the current plan to retain 160 warheads. It is feasible to keep all the warheads with a reduced number of submarines. But some cabinet members will be disappointed Brown is not willing to abandon the British deterrent altogether, and will press for some movement on reducing warheads.

 

The move is understood not to be conditional on major new disarmament offers by other nuclear states. Final decisions on the Trident contract probably do not need to be made until 2012, with the fleet becoming operational in 2025. British officials travelling with the prime minister said the decision was not necessarily the last disarmament offer to be made by Brown ahead of the general election.

 

The reduction from four to three submarines would still allow the continuous operational use of the submarine fleet, and is not a precursor to abandonment of the independent deterrent.

 

Brown is making his move ahead of Labour conference next week and the international nuclear non-proliferation review conference next May. The cost of Trident has been set out at between £72bn and £92bn over the next 20 years, including maintenance.

 

Polls, including one published this week by New Labour website Left Foot Forward, show growing support for the total scrapping of the UK deterrent. Only 23% wanted to replace Trident with an equally powerful weapon given the budget pressures of the continuing Afghan deployment.

 

Last night Lib Dem lead

 
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