A debate lasting nearly six hours saw Theresa May, in her first despatch box appearance as Prime Minister, warn it would be a “reckless gamble” for the United Kingdom to rely on other nations for its nuclear deterrent.
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Some 472 members supported the government’s motion, while 117 voted against – a majority of 355.
Asked directly whether she would authorise a strike which could kill 100,000 innocent people, she replied: “Yes”.
Prime Minister Theresa May urged MPs to back renewing the nukes – and confirmed that she would be prepared to press the nuclear button.
The 54-billion-U.S. dollar fleet will be built at a shipyard at Barrow in northern England to replace its aging fleet of nuclear submarines.
In a swipe at the Labour leader, Mrs May said: “Some people suggest to us that we should actually be removing our nuclear deterrent”.
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 can not compromise on our national security”.
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”.
“What this country needs to do is to recognize that it faces a variety of threats and to ensure we have the capabilities that are necessary and appropriate to deal with each of those threats”, she said ahead of the vote.
With their party divided, Labour MPs were given a free vote.
British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn was repeatedly challenged over his stance on nuclear weapons by his own MPs in parliament Monday.
Corbyn has made it clear that he would not be prepared to push the nuclear button if he was prime minister and questioned wielding “the threat of mass murder” as an effective method of conducting global relations.
The Trident nuclear programme is operated by the Royal Navy and based at Clyde Naval Base, commonly known as Faslane, on the west coast of Scotland.
Both of Corbyn’s rivals in the upcoming Labour leadership contest, Angela Eagle and Owen Smith, backed the replacement of Trident, while deputy leader Tom Watson also spoke in favour of renewal.
“We need to be prepared to deter threats to our lives and our livelihoods, and those of generations who are yet to be born”.
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.
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Mr Corbyn used the Commons debate to reiterate his opposition to the potential use of the weapons – one of the key elements of the doctrine of nuclear deterrence.
