Stroud Liberal Democrats

UK could credibly scale back Trident - Nick Harvey MP

A new report by military think-tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) suggests that scaling back Trident is a legitimate option for the UK to take.

In harmony with Lib Dem calls for the UK to step down the 'nuclear ladder', the report states that reducing the number of Vanguard submarines and ending Continuous At Sea Deterrence (CASD) is a credible and viable option.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat MP Nick Harvey said:

"I very much welcome RUSI's report today. It's pleasing to see this well-respected and expert organisation coming to this issue with an open mind.

"The report concludes that a step away from Continuous at-Sea Deterrence (CASD) is a legitimate option, which is quite right: the Lib Dems have long argued that the nuclear status quo is unnecessary and unaffordable.

"We need to come down the nuclear ladder in a way that is consistent with the world today: we no longer need to be able to fire on Moscow at a moment's notice. We cannot escape uncertainty, but we have finite defence resources and a Cold War nuclear capability has little relevance to the range of security challenges we're likely to face in the future."

• Display: Accessible
• Switch to: Desktop (requires cookies)

• My Account.
• Privacy Policy.
• Other Party Sites.