BASIC Forms UK Trident Commission

The British government is getting ready to undertake a serious inquiry into the future of its nuclear weapons program.

The United Kingdom was the third nation to get nuclear weapons, detonating its first atomic device in 1952. Unlike some other nuclear nations, however, the UK is party to all major international arms control treaties and, since the Cold War, it has steadily decreased its nuclear stockpile. Today the UK is estimated to have only 225 nuclear weapons.

These weapons are deployed on a fleet of four submarines with sea-launched missiles, known as the Trident program. The two oldest submarines are scheduled to retire in 2024. The limited scope of the program contrasted with its expense has prompted many to ask if Britain really still needs the program at all. Under David Cameron’s new austerity program, the government is facing massive budget cuts, and speculation was rife that Trident might get the ax.

However, the British government recently chose to postpone a decision on the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system until at least 2015, saving £750 million over 5 years.

This decision precipitated the formation of a parliamentary commission - set up by Ploughshares grantee the British American Security Information Council  (BASIC), to study the current policy of the Trident program and make recommendations about the future cost and mission of Trident. The Commission will be entirely autonomous and comprised of former British defense officials and national security experts.

BASIC's research director, Ian Kearns, who originally proposed the comimssion, described the commission as a pathway towards shaping the ultimate decision of Parliament. "Given the government's decision to delay Trident renewal until after the next election, there is an important opportunity before the country for a fresh in-depth debate. This Commission will provide a focal point for that debate."

According to Kearns, the Commission is likely to discuss questions like: “Should the UK be a nuclear power at all and if it should, is Trident the only or best way to go about it?” and “What more can and should the government be doing to promote global nuclear disarmament in a world of growing proliferation risks?"

Short of the UK unilaterally eliminating its nuclear forces, the opportunity for a comprehensive and clear-eyed review of the nation’s nuclear posture is a significant boon to the global arms control movement. Activists will have an opportunity to demonstrate the unnecessary and burdensome nature of nuclear forces in the 21st Century.

The Commission has stated that its recommendations will be placed in the context of the United Kingdom’s global goal of multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation. The final report is scheduled for publication in early 2012.