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| Labour's defence policy review given third option for Trident stance | Labour's defence policy review given third option for Trident stance |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| Labour’s defence review will examine the idea of building submarines under the Trident programme without nuclear weapons, after Jeremy Corbyn raised the idea as a possible third way. | Labour’s defence review will examine the idea of building submarines under the Trident programme without nuclear weapons, after Jeremy Corbyn raised the idea as a possible third way. |
| The proposal could be a compromise between his outright opposition to nuclear arms and the position of the trade unions, which want to protect the jobs of workers in Scotland and Cumbria who will build replacement Trident submarines. | |
| The Labour leader has argued there does not necessarily need to be a binary decision on the replacement of Trident, which is likely to be the subject of a vote in the House of Commons this spring. Pressed on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show as to what this meant, Corbyn said: “They don’t have to have nuclear warheads on them.” | The Labour leader has argued there does not necessarily need to be a binary decision on the replacement of Trident, which is likely to be the subject of a vote in the House of Commons this spring. Pressed on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show as to what this meant, Corbyn said: “They don’t have to have nuclear warheads on them.” |
| He also stressed it would be his first priority to maintain employment for people in the defence industry, who would be involved in the Trident programme. | He also stressed it would be his first priority to maintain employment for people in the defence industry, who would be involved in the Trident programme. |
| The shadow defence secretary, Emily Thornberry, later confirmed that the idea would be considered as part of the defence review, which was launched on Friday. She said it was the “Japanese option” to maintain submarines and nuclear capabilities without actually having operational nuclear weapons. | The shadow defence secretary, Emily Thornberry, later confirmed that the idea would be considered as part of the defence review, which was launched on Friday. She said it was the “Japanese option” to maintain submarines and nuclear capabilities without actually having operational nuclear weapons. |
| Thornberry told the BBC’s Sunday Politics: “The way that it works is that the Japanese have got a capability to build a nuclear bomb...[but] you can then put them on to, or you can use them, in various delivery forms. So that’s a possibility, that is an option.” She said she would not speculate on what the review would recommend but she added that Corbyn “said there’s a number of options, and I said the Japanese already have this as the way that they use theirs”. | Thornberry told the BBC’s Sunday Politics: “The way that it works is that the Japanese have got a capability to build a nuclear bomb...[but] you can then put them on to, or you can use them, in various delivery forms. So that’s a possibility, that is an option.” She said she would not speculate on what the review would recommend but she added that Corbyn “said there’s a number of options, and I said the Japanese already have this as the way that they use theirs”. |
| The suggestion of new submarines without nuclear warheads on them is not far from a proposal made by Sir Nick Harvey, the Liberal Democrat former defence minister under the coalition, who proposed a compromise solution in 2012. Harvey suggested a delayed-launch model that would involve developing a nuclear warhead for a cruise missile that could be launched from existing Astute submarines, but then keeping it “locked away in a cupboard and as a contingency in case there ever were to be a deterioration in the global security picture that might need the UK government to take it out of the cupboard”. | The suggestion of new submarines without nuclear warheads on them is not far from a proposal made by Sir Nick Harvey, the Liberal Democrat former defence minister under the coalition, who proposed a compromise solution in 2012. Harvey suggested a delayed-launch model that would involve developing a nuclear warhead for a cruise missile that could be launched from existing Astute submarines, but then keeping it “locked away in a cupboard and as a contingency in case there ever were to be a deterioration in the global security picture that might need the UK government to take it out of the cupboard”. |
| Related: Jeremy Corbyn hints at no-nuke subs in Trident compromise | Related: Jeremy Corbyn hints at no-nuke subs in Trident compromise |
| Responding to Corbyn’s comments, Len McCluskey, the general secretary of the Unite union, which is Labour’s biggest backer, suggested that he could be open to the idea of submarines with no nuclear weapons on them. “There’s all kind of different options that will be debated and discussed,” McCluskey said. | Responding to Corbyn’s comments, Len McCluskey, the general secretary of the Unite union, which is Labour’s biggest backer, suggested that he could be open to the idea of submarines with no nuclear weapons on them. “There’s all kind of different options that will be debated and discussed,” McCluskey said. |
| Others gave the proposal short shrift. John Woodcock, the MP for Barrow and Furness, where the Vanguard fleet was built, and who has been a prominent critic of Corbyn, said the idea was “implausible”, adding: “Having a deterrent that has no capacity to deter is like having an army with broken rifles and no ammunition.” | Others gave the proposal short shrift. John Woodcock, the MP for Barrow and Furness, where the Vanguard fleet was built, and who has been a prominent critic of Corbyn, said the idea was “implausible”, adding: “Having a deterrent that has no capacity to deter is like having an army with broken rifles and no ammunition.” |
| Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP who is now chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said it sounded like a “really uncomfortable compromise” and an “extraordinarily expensive job creation scheme” to build submarines for weapons that Corbyn has said he would never use. | Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP who is now chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said it sounded like a “really uncomfortable compromise” and an “extraordinarily expensive job creation scheme” to build submarines for weapons that Corbyn has said he would never use. |
| Elsewhere in his BBC interview, Corbyn signalled he would repeal legislation introduced by Margaret Thatcher that outlawed “sympathy strikes”, in which workers joined a picket line to support colleagues from another industry. Asked whether he supported getting rid of the restrictions, he said: “Sympathy action is legal in most other countries. It should also be legal here.” | Elsewhere in his BBC interview, Corbyn signalled he would repeal legislation introduced by Margaret Thatcher that outlawed “sympathy strikes”, in which workers joined a picket line to support colleagues from another industry. Asked whether he supported getting rid of the restrictions, he said: “Sympathy action is legal in most other countries. It should also be legal here.” |
| He also said he thought there should be “reasonable accommodation” with Argentina over the Falkland Islands, and there must be a “route through” to Islamic State to help bring about an end to the conflict in Syria, pointing out that governments in the region were already in touch with the group. | He also said he thought there should be “reasonable accommodation” with Argentina over the Falkland Islands, and there must be a “route through” to Islamic State to help bring about an end to the conflict in Syria, pointing out that governments in the region were already in touch with the group. |
| Related: Corbyn's 'Japanese option' unlikely to win over pro-Trident Labour MPs | Related: Corbyn's 'Japanese option' unlikely to win over pro-Trident Labour MPs |
| McCluskey backed the idea of reversing some strike legislation. “What Jeremy was saying and what I’m saying is we need an industrial relations policy, strategy and climate for the 21st century,” he told the BBC programme Pienaar’s Politics. “Many of the things Jeremy said … these union laws that restrict British workers are the worst in the whole of western Europe. How can it be fair that is the case?” | McCluskey backed the idea of reversing some strike legislation. “What Jeremy was saying and what I’m saying is we need an industrial relations policy, strategy and climate for the 21st century,” he told the BBC programme Pienaar’s Politics. “Many of the things Jeremy said … these union laws that restrict British workers are the worst in the whole of western Europe. How can it be fair that is the case?” |
| But he said Corbyn was not suggesting, for example, tube drivers going out in support of striking workers in another industry. McCluskey said he thought Corbyn’s interview was “absolutely first class” and the Labour leader was “on the side of ordinary working people in our nation”. | But he said Corbyn was not suggesting, for example, tube drivers going out in support of striking workers in another industry. McCluskey said he thought Corbyn’s interview was “absolutely first class” and the Labour leader was “on the side of ordinary working people in our nation”. |
| However, the nature of Marr’s questioning of Corbyn was attacked by John Prescott, the Labour peer and former deputy prime minister, who claimed it was a disgrace. Lord Prescott said: “Why did he ask about flying pickets and the Falkland Islands? Are these really the big issues of today? Forget Deutschland 83, today’s Corbyn interview was more Marr 82.” | However, the nature of Marr’s questioning of Corbyn was attacked by John Prescott, the Labour peer and former deputy prime minister, who claimed it was a disgrace. Lord Prescott said: “Why did he ask about flying pickets and the Falkland Islands? Are these really the big issues of today? Forget Deutschland 83, today’s Corbyn interview was more Marr 82.” |