The Prime Minister gave the blunt reply during a parliamentary debate on the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons programme, which many suspect was staged by the government for the sole objective of drawing attention to the rift between Jeremy Corbyn and a majority of Labour MPs.
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But Labour appears to be split on the issue as the shadow cabinet calls for the party to abstain from voting.
British PM Theresa May showed strong support for the deterrent program, confirming that if necessary she would approve a nuclear strike resulting in the mass loss of lives.
A debate on Monday lasting nearly six hours saw Theresa May made her first despatch box appearance as Prime Minister in which she said it would be a “an act of gross irresponsibility” for the United Kingdom to scrap its nuclear weapons and accused opponents of the UK’s Trident missile system of being “the first to defend the country’s enemies”.
He said: “I would urge members on all sides of the house to do what successive governments have done, to do the right thing, not just for today but for tomorrow and vote to maintain our nuclear deterrent for as long as security conditions require it”. Pressed during questioning in the chamber May was asked if she would sanction the use of nuclear missiles if it meant the deaths of 100,000 innocent men, women and children.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: “The SNP ignores at least half of Scottish public opinion and is a party that is content to dispense with our deterrent, but happy to cower under an American nuclear North Atlantic Treaty Organisation umbrella”.
The vote, which was originally scheduled to take place in March, was delayed by former Prime Minister David Cameron until after the European Union referendum.
“And we can not afford to relax our guard or rule out further shifts which would put our country in grave danger”.
Many Labour lawmakers criticised their leader’s view, which is in contrast with the party’s official position on Trident.
BRITAIN’s controversial nuclear deterrent will be renewed after a landmark House of Commons vote last night.
The £40bn construction of a new fleet, Successor, could begin this year and be operational by 2028 while the current fleet will be phased out by 2032.
British lawmakers are due to vote Monday on whether to replace the country’s fleet of nuclear-armed submarines, a powerful but expensive symbol of the country’s military status.
One Conservative MP, Crispin Blunt, voted against renewal while 322 supported the motion.
He added: “We have yet not had any confirmation on what this Government plans to spend on this, and you expect MPs on both the Labour benches and the Government benches to sign a blank cheque on this?”
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“We need to renew our system but not in the way the government intends”.
