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| Commons votes for Trident renewal by majority of 355 | Commons votes for Trident renewal by majority of 355 |
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| Parliament has voted in favour of renewing Britain’s nuclear deterrent, Trident, by a majority of 355 after it was backed by almost the entire Conservative party and more than half of Labour MPs. | Parliament has voted in favour of renewing Britain’s nuclear deterrent, Trident, by a majority of 355 after it was backed by almost the entire Conservative party and more than half of Labour MPs. |
| The vote was passed despite opposition from Scottish National party MPs and the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, a lifelong unilateralist who spoke out against the plans during a debate in parliament on Monday afternoon. | The vote was passed despite opposition from Scottish National party MPs and the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, a lifelong unilateralist who spoke out against the plans during a debate in parliament on Monday afternoon. |
| Other members of Corbyn’s frontbench team, including the shadow defence secretary, Clive Lewis, and the shadow foreign affairs secretary, Emily Thornberry, abstained after claiming in a Guardian article that the government was turning an issue of “national security into a political game”. | Other members of Corbyn’s frontbench team, including the shadow defence secretary, Clive Lewis, and the shadow foreign affairs secretary, Emily Thornberry, abstained after claiming in a Guardian article that the government was turning an issue of “national security into a political game”. |
| Related: Theresa May would authorise nuclear strike causing mass loss of life | Related: Theresa May would authorise nuclear strike causing mass loss of life |
| They accused Theresa May, who led the debate in parliament, of using the vote “simply to sow further divisions inside the Labour party”. | They accused Theresa May, who led the debate in parliament, of using the vote “simply to sow further divisions inside the Labour party”. |
| In total, 140 Labour MPs voted in favour of the motion and 47 against, with 40 absent and one abstention. | |
| The prime minister, who has made clear she believes the Trident issue can help unify her Conservative party after a fractious EU referendum campaign, said during the debate that she would be willing to authorise a nuclear strike killing 100,000 people. | The prime minister, who has made clear she believes the Trident issue can help unify her Conservative party after a fractious EU referendum campaign, said during the debate that she would be willing to authorise a nuclear strike killing 100,000 people. |
| She answered with a decisive “yes” when challenged by the SNP’s George Kerevan about whether she would personally approve a nuclear launch leading to mass loss of life. | She answered with a decisive “yes” when challenged by the SNP’s George Kerevan about whether she would personally approve a nuclear launch leading to mass loss of life. |
| Kerevan asked May: “Is she personally prepared to authorise a nuclear strike that can kill 100,000 innocent men, women and children?” | Kerevan asked May: “Is she personally prepared to authorise a nuclear strike that can kill 100,000 innocent men, women and children?” |
| May responded: “I have to say to the honourable gentleman, the whole point of a deterrent is that our enemies need to know that we would be prepared to use it, unlike some suggestions that we could have a deterrent but not actually be willing to use it, which seem to come from the Labour party frontbench.” | May responded: “I have to say to the honourable gentleman, the whole point of a deterrent is that our enemies need to know that we would be prepared to use it, unlike some suggestions that we could have a deterrent but not actually be willing to use it, which seem to come from the Labour party frontbench.” |
| May’s statement was met by gasps from some MPs on the opposition benches. | May’s statement was met by gasps from some MPs on the opposition benches. |
| Corbyn responded by making the case for nuclear disarmament. He said there were 40 warheads each eight times as powerful at the atomic bomb that killed 140,000 people in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. | Corbyn responded by making the case for nuclear disarmament. He said there were 40 warheads each eight times as powerful at the atomic bomb that killed 140,000 people in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. |
| “What is the threat we are facing that a million people’s deaths would actually deter?” he said, adding it had not stopped Islamic State, Saddam Hussein’s atrocities, war crimes in the Balkans or genocide in Rwanda. | “What is the threat we are facing that a million people’s deaths would actually deter?” he said, adding it had not stopped Islamic State, Saddam Hussein’s atrocities, war crimes in the Balkans or genocide in Rwanda. |
| “I make it clear today, I would not take a decision that kills millions of innocent people,” Corbyn told MPs. “I do not believe the threat of mass murder is a legitimate way to deal with international relations.” | “I make it clear today, I would not take a decision that kills millions of innocent people,” Corbyn told MPs. “I do not believe the threat of mass murder is a legitimate way to deal with international relations.” |
| May said it would be a “dereliction of duty” to give up Britain’s nuclear deterrent, and pledged to keep to the Nato target of spending 2% of national income on defence while she is prime minister. | May said it would be a “dereliction of duty” to give up Britain’s nuclear deterrent, and pledged to keep to the Nato target of spending 2% of national income on defence while she is prime minister. |
| Addressing the idea of downgrading the deterrent to a cheaper option, she said: “I am not prepared to settle for something that does not do the job.” | Addressing the idea of downgrading the deterrent to a cheaper option, she said: “I am not prepared to settle for something that does not do the job.” |
| Related: Trident: the British question | Ian Jack | Related: Trident: the British question | Ian Jack |
| May took a swipe at anti-Trident MPs on the Labour frontbench and the Green MP Caroline Lucas, claiming they were therefore among “the first to defend the country’s enemies”. | May took a swipe at anti-Trident MPs on the Labour frontbench and the Green MP Caroline Lucas, claiming they were therefore among “the first to defend the country’s enemies”. |
| Corbyn was challenged by several Labour MPs as well as Conservatives. Kevan Jones, a former shadow defence minister, highlighted the fact that the Labour leader had not kept to the pro-Trident policy agreed by the party’s conference and included in the 2015 manifesto. Vernon Coaker, a former shadow defence secretary, said the motion in favour of Trident was “reasonable and responsible”. | Corbyn was challenged by several Labour MPs as well as Conservatives. Kevan Jones, a former shadow defence minister, highlighted the fact that the Labour leader had not kept to the pro-Trident policy agreed by the party’s conference and included in the 2015 manifesto. Vernon Coaker, a former shadow defence secretary, said the motion in favour of Trident was “reasonable and responsible”. |
| Another Labour MP, John Woodcock, said it was an “indictment of how far this once great party has fallen” that it was having a free vote on the issue. He said it showed contempt for the public and Labour members, and such a lack of direction would have been abhorrent to the former leader Michael Foot, who was a unilateralist. | Another Labour MP, John Woodcock, said it was an “indictment of how far this once great party has fallen” that it was having a free vote on the issue. He said it showed contempt for the public and Labour members, and such a lack of direction would have been abhorrent to the former leader Michael Foot, who was a unilateralist. |