LONDON - Britain’s parliament is expected to approve a new nuclear arsenal on Wednesday but Prime Minister Tony Blair may have to rely on opposition votes to push his plans through. Blair is convinced Britain needs to renew its nuclear deterrent, despite deep-rooted opposition within his Labour Party which could see scores of Labour lawmakers voting against him.The government argues Britain must keep atomic weapons because potential threats from Iran, North Korea or nuclear terrorists mean abandoning them now could be a costly mistake -- even if there is no current threat. Blair dismissed opponents’ arguments that Britain is undermining hopes for international nuclear disarmament by buying a new generation of nuclear missiles. “There is absolutely no evidence whatever that if Britain now renounced its independent nuclear deterrent that would improve the prospects of getting multilateral disarmament ... I think the reverse is the case,” he told parliament.
BritainÂ’s nuclear arsenal is the smallest among the five U.N. Security Council permanent members who are legally recognised as nuclear states under the non-proliferation treaty. It consists of four British-built Vanguard-class submarines that carry 16 US-supplied Trident long-range missiles, armed with British-built nuclear warheads. The submarines are due to go out of service in about 2024.
The government wants to spend up to 20 billion pounds ($39 billion) on three or four nuclear-armed submarines to replace them, saying it must act quickly to have a replacement ready in time.
Blair has a majority of 67 in the 646-seat lower house. The revolt over Trident could be the biggest since nearly 140 Labour legislators voted against going war in Iraq. Jon Trickett, a Labour legislator who has put forward an amendment calling for further debate on TridentÂ’s replacement, said he expected many more than 34 Labour members of parliament to rebel against the government. A revolt on that scale could leave Blair dependent on the opposition Conservative Party to push through his plans. The Conservatives back renewing BritainÂ’s nuclear arsenal.
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