I have recently received a number of emails from my
constituents asking if I would sign a pledge to urge the Government to sign and
ratify Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
We live in uncertain times. Despite the end of the
Cold War, the world has watched with bated breath as developments in relations
with North Korea and Iran have emerged at a breakneck pace.
Continued diplomatic dialogue is a critical avenue
for addressing these issues. But given the current threats to international
security, and the reality that this will continue for the foreseeable future,
our independent nuclear deterrent remains as vital today as ever.
I was elected by my constituents on a manifesto
that prioritises the defence of the realm. In spite of the successes of arms
control activities in slowing the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the number
of states with nuclear capabilities has continued to grow.
There are risks that, over the next 20 to 50 years,
a major direct nuclear threat to the UK or our NATO allies might re-emerge.
When the case for the UK’s independent nuclear
deterrent was last presented to Parliament, by the Labour government in
2006-07, it was acknowledged that the old certainties of the Cold War were gone
but it was recognised that the UK faced a growing number of diverse and complex
threats in an unpredictable world
Similar key judgements were made in the 2015
Strategic Defence and Security Review. Many include Parliamentarians from both
sides agree that there is a risk that states with nuclear weapons, or those
seeking to acquire them, might use their nuclear capabilities to threaten the
UK, and attempt to constrain our decision making in a crisis or sponsor nuclear
terrorism.
Under the TPNW, signatory states must agree not to
develop, test, manufacture or possess nuclear weapons, or threaten to use them,
or allow any nuclear arms to be stationed on their territory.
I do not support the TPNW because I want to see the
Government deliver on its promise to maintaining the UK’s independent nuclear
deterrent to deter the most extreme threats to our national security, now and
in the future.
This does not however, mean that I am in favour of
the general use and proliferation of nuclear weapons.
We must ensure that nuclear weapons are only used
as the last resort and in the very worst case scenario where the a clear and
extreme threat to our national security is present.
The Government remains committed to the Treaty on
the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT):
- we have reduced our own
nuclear forces by over half from their Cold War peak in the late 1970s
- we are the only nuclear
weapon State which has reduced its deterrent capability to a single
nuclear weapon system; we have dismantled our tactical nuclear capability
and the RAF’s WE177 free fall bombs
- as a result of our
reassessment of the minimum necessary requirements for credible
deterrence, since 2010 we have:
- reduced the number of
warheads on each submarine from 48 to 40
- reduced our requirement for
operationally available warheads from fewer than 160 to no more than 120
- reduced the number of
operational missiles on each submarine to not more than 8
- we remain committed to
reducing the overall nuclear weapon stockpile to no more than 180
warheads by the mid-2020s.
- of the recognised ‘Nuclear
Weapons States’ (NWS), we possess only approximately 1% of the total
global stockpile of nuclear weapons, the smallest of all
the NPTnuclear weapon states
