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London (AFP): Defence Secretary Des Browne called Thursday for Britain to modernise its submarine-based nuclear deterrent, warning that a nuclear weapons threat could re-emerge. The British Labour government's nuclear renewal plans have triggered debate before a March vote in parliament, with many Labour lawmakers arguing that a deterrent is no longer needed after the end of the Cold War.
“While right now there is no nuclear threat, we cannot be sure that one will not re-emerge,” Browne said in a speech to academics and students at King's College, London.
“There is no realistic prospect of a world without nuclear weapons in the foreseeable future.”
During questions afterwards, Browne warned that “many countries that are trying to acquire nuclear weapons … are in unstable zones that will become more unstable in the future.”
He said Britain's nuclear weapons were designed purely as a deterrent and were not intended to be deployed in conflict, insisting politicians would only consider “using nuclear weapons in the most extreme situations of self-defence.”
He said Britain needed its own deterrent as “we don't want to be relying on anybody in an ever-changing world.”
Though some church leaders reject nuclear weapons on moral grounds, it made no sense to insist they are “inherently evil,” Browne said.
“The question is, given that this power exists, is it wrong for us to have it, to deter others from using it against us?,” he asked. “To be consistent, any proponent of the absolutist moral argument must argue that, even were a Hitler to possess a nuclear weapon, it would be morally wrong for us to possess a counter-balancing nuclear force,” he said.
“Frankly, I suspect many of us think the opposite — that it is at the very least morally permissible, maybe even morally required, for us to possess a nuclear deterrent under these circumstances,” he said.
Browne echoed arguments by Prime Minister Tony Blair that Britain had to act now to take the first steps towards maintaining the deterrent, because of the estimated 17 years it takes to design, build and deploy a new submarine.
In December, Blair unveiled his plans to the House of Commons for replacing four nuclear submarines — on which Trident nuclear missiles are deployed — which will become obsolete around 2025.
No decisions were needed on replacing warheads, as the lifespan of the Trident D5 missile can be extended to 2042.
Nuclear weapons are a divisive issue within the Labour Party, as unilateral disarmament was a key plank of its policy at the height of the Cold War during the 1980s.
