In her first appearance in the Commons as prime minister, Theresa May said relinquishing the UK’s nuclear weapons “would be a reckless gamble … with the safety and security of families in Britian”.
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Asked directly whether she would authorise a strike which could kill 100,000 innocent people, she replied: “Yes”.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative government is committed to keeping the country’s nuclear arsenal, a powerful but costly symbol of the country’s military status that consists of four Royal Navy submarines armed with Trident missiles.
MPs have overwhelmingly given the go-ahead to a new generation of nuclear weaponry by approving the replacement of the ageing Trident submarine fleet.
The Commons backed replacing the Vanguard submarines which carry Britain’s 225 warheads with four successors costing £31bn, by 472 votes to 117 – with a Government majority of 355.
Three weeks after Britain voted to leave the European Union, May also came under fire from EU leaders, who pressed her to trigger a Brexit as quickly as possible.
“We must continually convince any potential aggressors that the benefits of an attack on Britain are far outweighed by their consequences”, she added.
“I’m not making the decision that kills millions of innocent people”, said Corbyn.
Labour MPs were subject to a free vote, with leader Mr Corbyn declaring he would oppose the motion – a stance which led to strong criticism from some of his backbenchers.
“We can not compromise on our national security”.
The debate highlighted deep splits within the Labour opposition on the issue.
Defence secretary Michael Fallon, after winning the vote, said:”MP son all sides have voted by an overwhelming margin, to renew our nuclear deterrent – the ultimate guarantee of our national security”.
The issue is highly controversial in the Labour Party as, although it is current Labour Party policy to endorse the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system, the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is strongly opposed to renewal.
“Do these weapons of mass destruction, for that is what they are, act as a deterrent to what we face?”
“I believe it is the first duty of government to defend the nation”.
“While other states, including North Korea and an increasingly assertive Russian Federation, possess nuclear weapons it would be a gamble with the lives of the British people to abandon our own”.
A total of 58 MPs from Scotland voted against the renewal.
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North Durham Labour MP Kevan Jones, a former defence minister, intervened in Mr Corbyn’s speech, saying: “He, like me, stood in May 2015 on a party policy agreed at our conference. for the renewal of continuous at sea deterrent”.
