Please read Nuclear Eduction Trust blog regarding the compelling case for scrutiny of the UK's nuclear weapons programmes
Posted: 25th April 2025
Dear Friend
I thought you would be interested to read the article that Dr Tim Street of Pugwash and I wrote – with some help from Dave Cullen now at BASIC. It has been published by Rethinking Security and is available here https://rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/04/24/the-case-for-parliament-to-scrutinise-the-uks-nuclear-weapons-programme/
As you will read, it starts by pointing out that increased UK military spending is in the political spotlight but the huge and increasing proportion that is spent on nuclear weapons is not. In total it is estimated that £117.8bn will be spent between 2023 and 2033 on what is called the defence nuclear enterprise (DNE) – that is almost £12billion a year out of a current annual Defence Budget of £54billion. The article concludes by asserting that there is an urgent case for much greater scrutiny of the UK nuclear weapons programme by Parliamentary Committees.
I am meeting with the Chair of the Defence Select Committee next month and hopeful that the compelling case made in the article will persuade him that the Committee should resume scrutiny of nuclear weapons programmes (as happened in the 80s and 90s). This would look in detail at the rising costs and risks across the DNE, including on progress constructing the four new Dreadnought submarines, none of which have been completed.
I will also be advocating that there should also be a separate inquiry, by the Defence Select Committee in partnership with the Foreign Affairs Committee, focused on potential future options for the UK’s nuclear weapons system. This would include looking at the benefits of reducing the UK’s warhead stockpile and the adoption of a formal policy of No First Use. These are two of the many possible measures that the UK could take to create a climate of confidence for getting back on a path to multilateral nuclear disarmament and to strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
I hope you find the article of interest – please do what you can to bring it to the attention of others who are also concerned with these matters. And please let me know your thoughts at this frightening, alarming, worrying time.
Best wishes
Steve Barwick
Chair, Nuclear Education Trust