Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged Britain would keep its nuclear arsenal well into the 21st century on Monday, saying it would be unwise and dangerous for it to give up its deterrent unilaterally.
Unveiling a policy document in parliament, Blair said the government planned to order up to four new, nuclear-armed submarines to replace its existing nuclear defence, which will reach the end of its life in 2024.
In a concession to dozens of legislators in his Labour Party who oppose a new nuclear weapons system, Blair said Britain would cut its nuclear warheads by 20 percent to fewer than 160 and might reduce its submarine fleet to three from four.
The decision keeps Britain in a nuclear club comprising all five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the others are the United States, Russia, China and France.
Blair argued that Britain needed a deterrent as an insurance against future unpredictable threats, particularly given the growing risk from so-called "rogue states". "We cannot be certain in the decades ahead that a major nuclear threat to our strategic interests will not emerge," Blair told parliament.
"There is also a new and potentially hazardous threat from states such as North Korea, which claims already to have developed nuclear weapons, or Iran which is in breach of its non-proliferation duties," he said.
North Korea carried out a nuclear test in October and the West accuses Iran of seeking to make an atomic bomb, although Tehran denies it. India and Pakistan possess nuclear weapons and Israel is widely believed to have them but has never confirmed it.
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and scores of Labour parliamentarians, however, say Britain is contributing to nuclear proliferation by replacing Trident. They argue there is no need for a costly deterrent now the Cold War has ended.
Britain's nuclear defence consists of Trident missiles carried on board four Vanguard-class nuclear-powered submarines, but it will reach the end of its life in 2024.
The government's policy paper, known as a white paper, said it estimated the cost of four new submarines would be 15 billion to 20 billion pounds, although it would decide at a later date about whether three new craft would be enough. It also said the government would join a US programme to extend the life of the US-made Trident D5 missiles carried by Britain's Vanguard submarines.
Blair's announcement to parliament and the publication of a policy document signalled the start of weeks of debate, which will culminate in a parliamentary vote early next year. He is expected to be able to win the vote with the support of the opposition Conservatives despite a Labour revolt. The issue is sensitive for Labour, which was committed to unilateral nuclear disarmament until former leader Neil Kinnock scrapped the pledge in the late 1980s.
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