Delegates' vote may delay decision on Trident replacement

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg yesterday appeared to throw his weight behind hints that a decision to replace Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent could yet be put off until after a 2015 General Election.

He was speaking after his party conference voted to confirm the Liberal Democrat policy of opposing a like-for-like replacement, and its Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey said such a delay would have a "profound political significance".

Mr Clegg said: "I have always argued we should be looking at alternatives to a like-for-like replacement for Trident.

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"This is a live debate and we will need to arrive at a decision on all these things, on timing, and cost and detail, between now and the Comprehensive Spending Round (CSR).

"It's a perfectly sincere, level-headed debate about what are the security threats the country faces in the coming period."

He added: "Given that we are fighting a war in Afghanistan, given that we will no doubt have to fight other conflicts in the future, it begs questions about how you can stretch the MoD budget."

Mr Clegg said the timing of a decision on replacing Trident was linked to other very pressing decisions in the MoD.

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The CSR is due to report on October 20, and Mr Harvey told the Lib Dem conference yesterday that the "main gate" decision on the nuclear deterrent - the "point of no return" – is currently scheduled for the end of 2014 or the start of 2015.

But he went on: "If it were to be delayed until just after the May 2015 election, it is of no great financial significance, it is of no great military significance, it is of no great industrial significance.

"But believe me, it is of profound political significance.

"Conservatives know that they are not going to be able to look to the Liberal Democrats to get that through Parliament, so the issue will be a hot potato for Labour."

The Tories are committed to a like-for-like replacement for the submarine-based missile system, as was the previous Labour administration.

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Lib Dem members in Liverpool voted unanimously for a policy motion calling on Ministers to allow a full review of alternatives to the like-for-like replacement to be included in the Government's Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Labour MP John Woodcock, in whose constituency of Barrow and Furness the replacement Trident submarines would be built, said: "New Lib Dem defence minister Nick Harvey is brazenly admitting to playing politics with Britain's national security – that is the height of irresponsibility from the new Government."

He said delaying decisions on Trident purely for political reasons showed the lack of principle at the heart of the Government.

Kate Hudson, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), welcomed the Lib Dem debate and delegates' vote.