ISSUE AREAS:

British Nuclear Policy

BASIC's Beyond Trident Update includes news and parliamentary debate on the future of the UK's nuclear weapons.

BASIC Publications

BASIC Report Oceans of Work: Arms Conversion Revisited, by Dr Steven Schofield. This report puts the case for diverting resources away from nuclear submarine manufacture to a 'national needs' programme of civil R&D; and manufacture, including major investment in off-shore renewable energy, both for security of supply and to help tackle the growing international threat for climate change. 24 January 2007.

BASIC Briefing: UK Trident Replacement, too important to rush into, 14 December 2006. In a White Paper published on 4 December 2006 the Government decided to maintain the current Trident based nuclear deterrent by procuring a new class of submarines. There are several reasons for believing that this decision is premature and can be delayed for a further 8-10 years. There are also significant military, strategic, procurement and diplomatic benefits to holding off a decision for another parliament. Given these advantages, the onus was on the Government to justify such an early decision. The White Paper fails to do this. See BASIC press release, 14 December 2006.

BASIC Green Paper on Trident replacement, 1 December 2006. The government has announced that it intends to publish its White Paper on Monday 4 December 2006, with an announcement to the House soon after an emergency Cabinet meeting. BASIC's Green Paper highlights a number of reasons why it is unnecessary, and undesirable, to rush into a decision at this point. It also raises an alternative option that has so far been largely ignored within the debate, namely the strategy of Britain becoming a virtual nuclear weapon state. See BASIC press release, 1 December 2006.

New Report on US-UK nuclear weapons collaboration: Shining a torch into the darker recesses of the ‘special relationship’, BASIC Press Release on the Amendment to the 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement, Wednesday 16 June 2

Interdiction Under the Proliferation Security Initiative: Counter-Proliferation or Counter-Productive? BASIC Briefing, 6 October 2003

Response to the MoD's Public Discussion Paper on Missile Defence (PDF), 11 March 2003 

Official UK position on Missile Defence, BASIC Note, 7 February 2003

Inquiry into Missile Defence - Submission of Evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee on Defence, (PDF), 8 January, 2003

Defence Secretary opens missile defence debate: Official UK position  Basic Note, 18 December 2002

Military Intervention in Afghanistan:  Implications for British Foreign and Defence Policy BASIC Paper #40, September 2002

Britain to Participate in US Nuclear Test BASIC Press Release 14 February 2002

The Future of Arms Control and Non-Proliferation BASIC’s response to the Speech on Arms Control by the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, at King’s College, 6 February 2002

US-UK Nuclear Cooperation and the Future of the UK Trident System By Dr Ian Davis, Presentation to the All-Party Working Group, London, 
5 February 2002

Secrecy and Dependence:  The UK Trident System in the 21^st Century BASIC Research Report, November 2001

• Executive Summary of the Report

• Full Report Also available in pdf format.

• Press Release on the Report

Memo on Weapons of Mass Destruction "The United Kingdom and Weapons of Mass Destruction" by Dan Plesch, 9 February 2000

Official Documents

"Weapons of Mass Destruction" Response of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to the Foreign Affairs Committee Report, 24 October 2000

"Weapons of Mass Destruction" Official House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Report, 25 July 2000

Links

Research Organizations

The Acronym Institute
The Acronym Institute works to promote nuclear disarmament by spreading information and maximizing negotiating opportunities. Their site has background information on British nuclear policy. 

Grassroots Organizations

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)
CND campaigns non-violently to change UK Government policies and bring about the elimination of British nuclear weapons.

Trident Ploughshares
Using direct action and legal challenges Trident Ploughshares campaigns to disarm the UK Trident nuclear weapons system.

UK Government Sites

Ministry of Defence
The MoD website contains background information on the UK defense budget and UK government policy.

Royal Navy
The Royal Navy website includes information on the UK's of fleet of Trident submarines.

Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE)
AWE at Aldermaston is responsible for providing and maintaining Britain's arsenal of nuclear warheads.  The facility is responsible for initial concept and design, assembly, in-service support and disposal.

Defence Select Committee of the House of Commons
The Select Committees are charged with overseeing and reporting on the work of the UK Government.  The Defence Select Committee has, in the past, produced reports on British nuclear policy.

Description of BASIC's Program

Trident is now Britain's only nuclear weapon system and is expected to remain in service for approximately 30 years. Amongst nuclear weapons states, the United Kingdom can be rightly proud of its levels of transparency.  Britain has become more transparent about its holdings of nuclear warheads and fissile material, and has promoted research into the verification issues which will be involved in reducing and eventually eliminating nuclear weapons.

However, access to information and parliamentary scrutiny of nuclear policy has, if anything, become more difficult under Tony Blair’s Government than under the Major and Thatcher Governments. Abandoning the annual defence estimates in 1997, the British Government now publishes a limited range of less comprehensive and ad hoc documents. With major changes now taking place in US nuclear policy, and significant developments at Aldermaston concerning the future of the British nuclear force, it is imperative that regular and detailed Government reporting to Parliament, together with effective parliamentary scrutiny, are restored.

BASIC is committed to increasing public and parliamentary scrutiny in order to gain comprehensive debate on the key questions facing UK nuclear policy.  What is the likely impact of the Bush Administration’s nuclear policies on Britain’s highly US-dependent nuclear forces? Should Trident be replaced in the future or entered into multilateral disarmament negotiations? Can nuclear weapons be used as a deterrent to proliferators? In light of recent challenges in the courts, is British nuclear policy legal?  With the next Review Conference of the NPT in 2005, and consultations on replacing Trident expected within the decade, these issues are more important than ever.

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