Blair opts to cut 20% of warheads

Harold Wilson summed it up the best when he referred to, "the so-called independent, so-called British nuclear deterrent". For in reality it is no such thing. They are weapons we pay for but can only use with the permission of our American cousins, who possess so many of them that our arsenal becomes a sideshow, a silly little vanity that tells us we are a world power.

But, Blair is so determined that we should retain that status that he is preparing to rely on the Conservative vote in order to recommission Trident.

Oh, he's throwing a bone at people like myself who have argued that under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty we are expected to reduce our nuclear arsenal. He's reducing the number of nuclear submarines we have from four to three and the number of actual missiles we possess from 200 to 160.

63 Labour MPs have signed parliamentary motions calling on the Government not to replace Trident, and many more have signed motions calling for a full debate about Britain's nuclear deterrent before the vote.

The white paper will also say the new Trident system will cost less than £25bn. But it will say this figure represents 5% of the annual defence budget, and about 0.1% of GDP, Whitehall sources said yesterday. Ministers have rejected claims Britain no longer needs nuclear weapons to deter a potential enemy and have embraced the "insurance policy" argument that it is impossible to predict the shape of threats in 20 years.

The promised reduction in Trident, whose warheads will have been halved from 300 since 1997 when Labour came to power, is unlikely to appease critics of nuclear weapons or MPs in all parties who challenge Downing Street's view that Trident must not only be renewed, but that a decision is urgent.

£25 billion. How many schools would that build? How many hospitals?

I have always opposed nuclear weapons but understood the logic when we faced the Soviet Union. Now we face a new, completely different, threat. Should al Qaeda or bin Laden attack us, where would we unleash this nuclear arsenal? If, indeed, the Americans gave us permission to use them.

The strength of opposition was shown by a poll of MPs yesterday which found 39 per cent of Labour MPs - and 31 per cent of MPs from all parties - believe Britain should not maintain a nuclear deterrent "for the foreseeable future".

The poll by Communicate Research found 36 per cent of Labour MPs believed that "the international security outlook makes a UK nuclear deterrent unnecessary."

So Blair will, once again, rely on Tory MP's to push through his latest Tory policies. He really is the greatest Prime Minister the Tories never had.

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tag: Blair, Trident, Labour