Vote Out Trident - 2010 General Election

Liberal Democrat Party

"Rule out the like-for-like replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons system. At a cost of £100 billion over a lifetime it is unaffordable, and Britain’s security would be better served by alternatives. We support multilateral nuclear disarmament and will ensure that the UK plays a
proactive role in the arms reduction talks starting later this year."

- Liberal Democrat Manifesto

On 1 April 2010 they published a document which reviewed their policy on nuclear weapons. This list a number of options:

• Explore extending the life of the current Trident submarines
• Defence Review should consider taking Trident off patrol
• Arming Astute submarines with nuclear cruise missiles should be investigated
• A "virtual deterrent" where there were no weapons but the capability to develop them had some attractions
• The option of eliminating Britain's nuclear weapons capability should not be eliminated.

Download the full report (pdf) from the Liberal Democrat website.

"Liberal Democrats do not believe that the UK can afford the billions of pounds the Government wants to spend on a like-for-like replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons system. Full-scale Trident is a cold war system that we no longer need
nor can afford. We believe that less expensive alternatives should be considered."
(Liberal Democrat Website)

Nick Clegg announced their opposition to a like-for-like replacement for Trident in a BBC TV interview in June 2009.

At the Liberal Democrat Party Conference in Harrowgate on 3rd March 2007 a motion calling for Britain to phase out its nuclear weapons was narrowly defeated after the then leader, Menzies Campbell spoke against it.