The renewal of Trident has major financial and political implications A row has erupted after it emerged the government is considering delaying the replacement of Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system.
Postponing a decision until after the 2015 general election could save billions in the short term.
But Labour said it could put at risk Britain’s ability to maintain a constant nuclear patrol at sea.
And it accused the coalition of being “divided” on the Trident issue and unable to make up its mind.
The Conservatives strongly support Trident renewal but the Liberal Democrats do not.
The difference of opinion is acknowledged in their coalition agreement, with Lib Dem MPs free to make the case for a cheaper alternative to the estimated £20bn system.
Britain’s nuclear weapons system is made up of four submarines, based at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde, which can deploy Trident ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads.
At least one submarine is always at sea so a continuous deterrent can be maintained.
Treasury Minister Justine Greening told BBC2’s Newsnight that she could not prejudge the outcome of next month’s spending review but there would inevitably be difficult decisions.
Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin, a former defence spokesman, warned on BBC Radio 4’s Today that it would be “extremely divisive” if the coalition agreement on Trident were abandoned.
He said he did not think that the delay would happen because it would “disturb the Conservative Party very, very much” and would be the “maddest” decision to take, increasing the long term costs of replacing Trident and undermine the UK’s foreign policy.
But former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell told the same programme it made “no sense” to be committed to a like-for-like replacement of a nuclear weapons system designed for the cold war era.
He said decisions made in the next few weeks for the strategic defence review could not be reversed, so it made sense to look at other alternatives for a future British nuclear weapons system.
Shadow Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth, for Labour, said delaying a decision could risk Britain’s continuous “sea deterrence” and cost industry billions.
“It is hardly leadership to dodge a decision like this, just to avoid a row between coalition partners”
Labour peer Lord HarrisMore comment from around the web on the defence spending review
“The government can’t just simply put off such difficult decisions because they can’t make up their mind.
Their internal squabbles and the divided nature of the coalition on this issue cannot be allowed to affect choices which will have such a huge impact on our future capabilities.
“If the government are really going to take this enormous step we must have a proper debate on it. They cannot make such a decision behind closed doors without proper consultation with the parliament and the public.”
The government is already spending large sums on possible designs for new submarines that would carry the Trident missiles.
The main, final decision to go ahead and build the new submarines was expected to be taken in 2014. This is known in military jargon as the “main gate” decision, the point of no return when ministers sign contracts and start spending billions of pounds.
However, the BBC understands ministers are now looking at pushing this “main gate” decision into the next parliament, in 2015 or beyond.
Any delay would ease the short-term pressure on the defence budget which is facing substantial cuts under the coalition’s spending review.
But critics say delaying spending money on replacing Trident will cost the taxpayer more in the long run as it will risk losing the skills of engineers who might lose their jobs if there is no work for them, and will increase the costs of repairing existing Vanguard submarines which will have to last for longer.
In a report published on Wednesday, MPs urged ministers to clarify how a replacement for Trident – which it is estimated could cost up to £20bn – will be funded.
The Treasury has made clear that the Ministry of Defence will have to cover the cost from its own budget, which is facing reported cuts of between 10% to 20% over the next four years.
Responding to the report, Lib Dem Defence Minister Nick Harvey said there were “big debates” to be had about the cost of renewing Trident – currently the subject of a value for money exercise.
But he insisted that this would not impact on the current spending round – the details of which will be announced next month – as the bulk of expenditure will be after 2015.
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