Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announces Government’s plan to build new Trident nuclear weapons
The £1.25 billion investment into controversial weapons will provide 'ultimate guarantee of safety' and could begin as early as next week
A BILLION-POUND building phase on new sumbarines to carry the controversial Trident missiles will begin this week.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon announced £1.25 billion investment to start constructing the new Successor fleet for the nuclear deterrent system which are the “ultimate guarantee of our nation’s safety”.
The cash for BAE Systems will be used in part to build the part of the submarine that controls the reactor at the Barrow-in-Furness yard in Cumbria.
Speaking ahead of the Tory party conference which starts in Birmingham today, he said: “We cannot know what new dangers we might face in the 2030s, 2040s and 2050s so we are acting now to replace them.
“Along with increasing the defence budget to buy new ships, planes and armoured vehicles, this shows that the Conservative Party will never gamble with our national security.”
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The continuous-at-sea deterrent is expected to cost £31 billion with an extra £10 billion contingency fund also set aside.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn voted against plans to renew the deterrent but 140 of his MPs backed the government.
Corbyn said he would never press the nuclear button.