Trident

Part of Point of Order – in the House of Commons at 2:46 pm on 14 March 2007.

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Photo of Jon Trickett Jon Trickett Labour, Hemsworth 2:46, 14 March 2007

I accept the point that my right hon. Friend makes in all honesty. However, even this afternoon, people speaking in support of the Government's case have made precisely that point.

I want to move on to address equally specious arguments that have been developed, such as that about the reduction of warheads. Obviously, the destruction of any warhead is a welcome development, so the Secretary of State's announcement in the White Paper—this was reaffirmed today—that the number of warheads would be reduced was good. However, that is not a non-proliferation measure. Everyone who has read the Defence Committee's report knows that the number of warheads active on the seas will still be 48. There will thus be no non-proliferation. While it is welcome that the stockpile of warheads in the UK is being reduced, that is not an argument that we are complying with our legal obligations to engage in non-proliferation. The Select Committee report clearly makes that case.

The Defence Committee was unconvinced about the timing. Paragraph 7 of the conclusions and recommendations of its ninth report says:

"Neither the White Paper nor the exchange of letters between the Prime Minister and the US President"—

I will refer to them later—

"explain adequately why decisions on UK participation in the...missile life extension are required by 2007."

If the Select Committee is unconvinced, so am I. Frankly, many aspects of the report argue clearly that it would be possible to delay the decision for some years.