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UK Election: Questions raised over nuclear weapons
英国大选提及核问题
British voters go to the polls in a few days with the election still balanced on a knife edge, the out
come more uncertain than at any time in the last five decades.
Long regarded as one of Europe’s most stable nations, the uncertainty surrounding the election result has hit the British Pound.
The colorful dress coats of Britain’s armed forces belie tough decisions ahead, with a strategic defense review planned immediately after the General Election.
The UK’s $150 billion dollar replacement for Trident, Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent, under scrutiny.
A surging Scottish Nationalist Party rejects nuclear weapons as morally wrong and in the case of Trident lacking strategic value.
"But in addition to those moral and strategic arguments, it has become increasingly clear that Trident, and the renewal of Trident, is financially unjustifiable," said Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish Nationalist Leader.
This is why the Scottish Nationalist leader’s opinion on Trident is critical: Faslane the Scottish home of Britain’s nuclear fleet.
It featured in last year’s independence referendum.
The unexpected outcome an extraordinary switch of political loyalties north of the border that’s left Labor Leader Ed Milliband in all likelihood short of a Parliamentary majority and vulnerable to attack.
"If Miliband wants the keys to Number Ten he must abandon any plans to renew our Vanguard ballistic missile submarines," said Michael Fallon,UK defense secretary.
Coalitions or not, opinion polls persistently point to few viable options for a Parliamentary majority.
Indeed Labor has further strengthened its opposition to a formal working relationship with the Scottish Nationalists.
That though only further complicates the thorny debate surrounding the future of the UK’s nuclear weapons.
Politics professor Tony Travers of the London School of Economics says it’s linked to a declining defense budget.
"This is all tangled up with things like britain’s role in the United Nations, you know on the Security Council of the United Nations, it’s wider international role and it’s people’s expectations of the government," he said.
After years of wrangling it is now possible Britain may leave the international club of nations with nuclear weapons. Not for ethical reasons, though, but because whoever comes to dominate this place after the election simply won’t have enough cash.
