Nato summit in Warsaw, Poland, where Cameron announced MP vote on replacing ageing Trident submarines on July 18. Dominic Lipinski / Press Association. All rights reserved.The UK has consistently opposed discussion at the United Nations on possible routes toward the elimination of nuclear weapons. This has been described as ‘scandalous’ by some and for good reason. In recent years the UK has strongly resisted any discussion of multilateral disarmament in forums outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. At the 2010 NPT Review Conference, the UK was instrumental in voting down the proposal of the United Nations Secretary General for an international conference on his five-point plan for multilateral disarmament. The UK has opposed the establishment of two UN Open-Ended Working Groups on multilateral disarmament – these have subsequently taken place anyway. The UK government is currently boycotting UN talks that will deliver proposals on multilateral disarmament to the UN General Assembly this year.
Under the NPT, the UK is committed to ‘negotiation in good faith’. Yet these recent talks among UN member states do not even amount to ‘negotiation’ at this stage. These are discussions, no more, and they are necessary as the path to zero nuclear weapons is not yet clear. The elimination of nuclear weapons will take time and effort to achieve. It will require some of the brightest and most experienced diplomatic minds to work out how best to make progress. All the more reason then for the UK to join with others in mapping the route to zero and the likely stages on the journey.
The UK’s status as a nuclear weapons power
The UK Government’s reticence can be partly explained in that the UK is one of only five states to have a temporary status as a recognised nuclear weapons power under the NPT. In the past the Government has perceived that the UK gains status as a nation by holding and maintaining nuclear weapons. The leasing of Trident missiles from the United States is a unique arrangement that is viewed as cementing the UK’s special relationship on security matters – although it also says something about the balance in this relationship. In addressing the fallout of ‘Brexit’ on international relations, further commitment to spending on Trident was hailed by Theresa May as demonstrating that the UK remains engaged in world affairs.
