Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, known for his long commitment to nuclear disarmament, strongly opposed the government motion but faced much opposition in the House from most of his MPs, who voted for the motion and used the occasion to attack his leadership. We’re talking about 40 warheads, each one with the capacity to kill more than one million people.
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MPs voted to replace the weapons system by 472 votes to 117, giving the go-ahead to replace the subs.
British MPs have voted in favour of renewing the countrys Trident nuclear weapons system designed for a retaliatory strike in case the United Kingdom faces a nuclear attack.
He also criticised the 41 abstentions, nearly all from the Labour Party, on a night when 140 of Jeremy Corbyn’s MPs defied his wishes and backed renewal.
The cost of construction is estimated at £31bn, although a further contingency fund of £10bn has been set aside.
Mr. Corbyn warned of the tragic consequences of using an indiscriminate weapon of mass destruction.
In his comments, Mr Reed told Mr Corbyn that backing Trident was current Labour Party policy, thought a review of this policy is now underway.
Arguing that nuclear weapons had been a fundamental part of the UK’s defences for almost 50 years, Mrs May said: “We must continually convince any potential aggressors that the benefits of an attack on Britain are far outweighed by their consequences”.
But Labour MP Toby Perkins, who last month resigned as shadow armed forces minister, compared Labour frontbench opposition to Trident with the arguments “of a 13-year-old”.
But Ms May knew that the Labour leader was prepared to state his position, which is the opposite of hers.
The issue is controversial in the Labour Party as leader Jeremy Corbyn is a lifelong campaigner against nuclear weapons.
“And if you can’t do that, return to the backbenches”.
Meanwhile 58 of the Parliament’s 59 Scottish MPs opposed Trident renewal, calling nuclear weapons “immoral”.
“We can’t be sure what threats will come against Britain in the 2040s and 2050s”, Fallon told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, adding that not renewing the Trident system was “a gamble we simply can’t afford to take”.
On Sunday, the SNP called on May to delay a parliamentary vote on the renewal of Trident.
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“We can not outsource the grave responsibility we shoulder for keeping our people safe”, she said, adding that scrapping the Trident submarine-based weapons system would be “a reckless gamble, a gamble that would enfeeble our allies and embolden our enemies”.
