Trident Nuclear Submarine HMS Victorious. Defence Images/Flickr. Some rights reserved.
In her first parliamentary debate as Conservative leader, the new British Prime Minister, Theresa May, decided to go ahead with a debate and decision on Trident on18 July. With Conservative MPs under a "three line whip" to vote in favour, and the Labour Party bitterly divided by a leadership struggle, the numerical outcome of the 18 July vote Twas no surprise. The motion was passed 472 to 117. All but one of the Conservative MPs filed into the 'yes' lobby. They were joined by 140 Labour MPs, freed up because the rush to vote just before parliament's summer recess pre-empted the Labour Party's review of nuclear policy, security and defence, which had been due in September. Lacking an agreed, up to date policy on nuclear weapons, Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, a long time advocate of nuclear disarmament, agreed for his MPs to vote "according to conscience".
The Scottish National Party (SNP) and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) MPs joined 47 Labour MPs, most of the Liberal Democrats, the sole Green MP and a handful of others in voting against. Because voting in Parliament is an arcane ritual requiring the MPs to physically transport their bodies into either the 'yes' room or the 'no' room, options are constructed in binary terms. Labour's Shadow Defence and Foreign Affairs spokespeople, Clive Lewis and Emily Thornberry, called on colleagues to abstain in protest against the vote being taken before Labour's review was completed. The numbers don't show how many joined them, as abstainers are traditionally lumped in with absentees. Only one – who reportedly managed to get counted in both rooms – was recorded as an abstention. Prime Minister May was therefore given a majority of 355.
