A general election will be called this week, and we can look forward to a month of frantic political campaigning before voting day on May 6th . With the economy still very weak it's a certainty that all the political parties will be focusing on their economic policies Cuts in spending to balance the national deficit are likely to be a hot topic of debate, but I'm willing to bet that the three main parties will want to say very much less about nuclear weapons and Trident replacement.
Government Policy latest news
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Watch our new video blog about President Obama’s arms control agenda
Our new video blog shows an interview with NIS Director Peter Burt about the implications of the new US-Russia START arms control treaty and the contradictions in President Obama's arms control programme.
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Defence Review must consider Trident nuclear weapons
The UK's nuclear weapons must be included in the post-election Strategic Defence Review, says the Nuclear Information Service (NIS) in a formal response to the government's recent Defence Green Paper.
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NIS Update: February / March 2010
DEFENCE GREEN PAPER SETS THE STAGE FOR STRATEGIC DEFENCE REVIEW
At the beginning of February the Ministry of Defence published the Green Paper 'Adaptability and Partnership: Issues for the Strategic Defence Review', outlining a series of key questions on defence issues that will need to be addressed by the next government.
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Fox and Fairlie: Two contrasting meetings
I sat in on two very different meetings on Thursday. The first, in the morning, was the more formal of the two: a lecture by Dr Liam Fox, the Conservative Party's defence spokesperson, hosted by the Politeia think tank at their London HQ.
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NIS Update: January 2010
INITIAL GATE FOR TRIDENT REPLACEMENT POSTPONED
Following a series of claims and counter-claims about the timetable for announcing the 'Initial Gate' decision for the programme to replace the UK's Trident nuclear weapons programme, defence ministers have finally made an unambiguous announcement that the decision is to be delayed by “a few months”.
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Government must consult openly on Plutonium management
The government must consult in an open and transparent manner on
proposals for the long term management of plutonium says NIS in response to a consultation paper on options for the long term management of plutonium. -
Greenpeace investigation shows that replacing Trident will cost £97 billion
An investigation by Greenpeace has shown that the costs of replacing Trident will total £97 billion over the whole life of the project- far above the £20 billion figure usually quoted by the government.
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Hansard on Atomic Weapons Establishment: Expenditure – 1st June 2009
*1 Jun 2009 : Column 41W*
Atomic Weapons Establishment: Expenditure
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Spending on Trident or child poverty?
Letter from Dr David Lowry, former Director, European Proliferation Information Centre (EPIC)
Sir- So, the credit crunch kaleidoscope has been shaken with an interesting atomic fallout (“Tories cast doubt on £21bn Trident nuclear missile upgrade,” May 1).
At prime minister's question time this week former Labour foreign office minister Chris Mullin suggested “given that the Government are a little strapped for cash at the moment, might this be the moment to reconsider our commitment to spend £20 billion on a new generation of nuclear weapons?”
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Hansard on AWE and Trident Replacement, 29th April, 2009
*29 Apr 2009 : Column 1285W*
Atomic Weapons Establishment
*Nick Harvey:* To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the objectives are of the Threat Reduction Division at the Atomic Weapons Establishment; and how many staff are employed in this division. [271266]
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Hansard on AWE and Trident Replacement, 20th April, 2009
20 Apr 2009 : Column 58W AWE Management
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether (a) public-private partnership and (b) private finance initiative arrangements may be put in place under the AWE Aldermaston management contract. [269710]