Corbyn interviewed on the BBC by Andrew Marr states that a Labour Government will conduct a strategic defence review and that the nuclear deterrent will be included in it. This should be no surprise. Last year, I argued that Trident should not be renewed; I am still of that opinion.
I said that
- It was not an effective defensive weapon, it’s probably not independent, while we can launch it without US permission, we won’t be sure where it’ll land.
- I itemised failings in the UK defence capability, aircraft carriers without aircraft, anti-aircraft destroyers without AA missiles, an air force without a viable ground attack plane, insufficient cargo planes and the smallest army in peace time incapable of any meaningful independent foreign intervention. These circumstances have been engineered by the coalition government. We need take no advice from them.
Today I’d add that,
- Nukes are weapons of mass destruction and their use is illegal in most conceivable circumstances. The saying, “All’s fair in love & war” is doubly wrong!
- A weak conventional force makes the use of nukes more likely.
As on so many other issues, Corbyn is right on this.
Disarmament
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