Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)


2006 United Kingdom Special Weapons News



  • Blair presses ahead plans for new generation of nuclear arms IRNA 04 Dec 2006 -- Prime Minister Tony Blair is to press ahead with plans Monday to publish plans for Britain to buy a new generation of nuclear arms despite vociferous opposition including from his party's backbench MPs.
  • UK should halve its nuclear warheads, say Lib Dems IRNA 01 Dec 2006 -- Britain should halve the number of its nuclear warheads to show that disarmament under the terms of the Non-Proliferation Treaty is back on the international agenda, the country's third largest party, the Liberal Democrats, said Friday.
  • Blair 'in rush' to approve new generation of nuclear missiles IRNA 17 Nov 2006 -- Prime Minister Tony Blair was reported Friday to be `in a rush' to approve a new generation of nuclear weapons for Britain before he leaves office next year.
  • Blair confident on winning vote to renew nuclear weapons IRNA 12 Jul 2006 -- Prime Minister Tony Blair Wednesday appeared confident that his government would win any vote later this year on replacing Britain's ageing nuclear weapons capability.
  • Road crash could detonate UK N-warheads: report IRNA 06 Jul 2006 -- Britain's Trident nuclear warheads damaged in a vehicle pile-up or plane crash could partially detonate and deliver a lethal radiation dose, according to a newly declassified report from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD).
  • Blair refuses parliamentary vote on replacing nuclear arms IRNA 28 Jun 2006 -- Prime Minister Tony Blair refused to say Wednesday whether he will grant a parliamentary vote before ordering a new generation of nuclear weapons.
  • UK may need nuclear energy, says Blair IRNA 05 Apr 2006 -- Prime Minister Tony Blair has given his clearest indication to date that he may favor building a new generation of nuclear power stations to meet Britain's future energy needs.
  • UK's own nuclear deterrent is a `myth,' says defence analyst IRNA 24 Mar 2006 -- Britain is not a true nuclear power that can make their own nuclear weapons but are "mere clients of the US," according to defence analyst Dan Plesch.
  • The Future of Britain’s WMD by Dan Plesch The Foreign Policy Centre Mar 2006 -- "This report discusses the successor to Britain ’s Trident nuclear missile system. It examines British dependence on the United States and concludes that most of the discussion on the replacement is based on the false premise that the UK has an independent nuclear weapon. To support this conclusion, the report reviews the history of Britain ’s involvement with nuclear weapons from 1940 to the present day to show a sixty-year-old pattern of British dependence on the US for Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD ). The report also concludes that Trident should not be replaced and should be phased out now, as neither Trident nor any US-supported successor would meet the ‘1940 requirement’ for a system that the nation can rely on if it stands alone as in 1940."
  • Blair refuses vote pledge on replacing UK's nuclear arms IRNA 07 Feb 2006 -- Prime Minister Tony Blair Tuesday refused to say whether the government will allow a parliamentary vote on a decision due shortly on whether to replace Britain's ageing submarine-based Trident nuclear weapons system.
  • NPT may be constrained on updating nuclear arms, UK admits IRNA 01 Feb 2006 -- Britain's Defence Ministry has admitted that the government may face possible constraints to a future decision to be made on whether to replace its submarine-based Trident nuclear weapons due to its international obligations.