Speaking in defense of Trident’s renewal, May said that the threat from nations such as Russian Federation and North Korea remained “very real” and that she would be prepared to use nuclear weapons if necessary, even if it meant mass civilian casualties.
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He said: “We’re forced to accept that the refusal to accept the established policy of the Labour party and to acknowledge the achievements of the greatest Labour government is not just a knowing embrace of electoral defeat, but a very real, a very studied and a very determined desire to split this Labour party”.
But the shadow Commons leader, Newport West MP Paul Flynn, who is against the nuclear deterrent, said he believes the vote is a “cynical bear trap” by the Tories created to damage Labour. “I do not believe the threat of mass murder is a legitimate way to go about dealing with worldwide relations”.
During the debate, Mr Blenkinsop tweeted: “Every single Labour MP was elected on a manifesto (in May 2015) to renew a continuous at sea deterrent, including Jeremy Corbyn”.
Russian Federation is rebuilding its arsenal, and North Korea has enough nuclear material to produce a dozen nuclear weapons.
The debate, on a decision which has already been made, has been called by the Tories in what Ms Thornberry and Mr Lewis say is an attempt to highlight divisions in the Labour Party.
After almost six hours of at-times heated debate, they voted by 472 to 117 to approve the multi-billion pound project. The existing Vanguard submarines that carry the Trident nuclear deterrent will be retired when the new submarines are built.
Three-quarters of Labour MPs backed a vote of no confidence in Corbyn on 28 June, accusing him of lacklustre leadership in the European Union referendum campaign which culminated with many longtime Labour voters in underprivileged areas defying the party line and backing Brexit.
Theresa May has declared without hesitation that she would order a nuclear strike to kill hundreds of thousands of people if she thought it was necessary.
“What is the threat we are facing that one million people’s deaths would actually deter?” he asked.
He announced that he would vote against Trident again, but as he spoke, he was constantly interrupted by Labour MPs who demanded that he should defend the party’s policy instead of giving his own opinion.
The head of the GMB trade union Tim Roache had warned that 45,000 jobs around the country – many of them highly skilled – depended on the programme going ahead.
The Trident program was introduced by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s to replace the Polaris missile system used since the 1960s.
The party’s defence spokeswoman accused May of “playing games” with the issue and said she would abstain.
“We are still around”, Fallon said.
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“If I was a defence worker in Unite and I was reading social media that Unite were about to give Jeremy Corbyn a quarter of a million pounds of my subscriptions, I would be furious”.
