Tag Archives: trident

The Independent View: MoD suppresses Lib Dem review and spending information on Trident ahead of Parliamentary decision

By Kate Hudson | Published 8th December 2011 - 9:28 am

Liberal Democrats can be rightly proud of their record on challenging like-for-like Trident replacement and keeping Britain’s nuclear weapons near the top of the political agenda – certainly during the last general election campaign. But now it looks as though their coalition partners are moving to stifle the gains they have made. Not only has the Defence Secretary announced the suppression of the Lib Dem-led Trident Alternatives Review. He is also making a mockery of the delayed Trident replacement decision – scheduled for 2016 – by committing to spend £6 billion before that decision date. This is hardly fair play …

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Posted in The Independent View | Also tagged , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Liberal Democrat members support proposed changes to planning rules, just

By Mark Pack | Published 7th October 2011 - 7:25 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 550 party members responded, and we’re currently publishing the full results.

Our latest survey of party members finds a small majority backing the government’s controversial plans for the planning system in England. By a margin of 48% – 39% Liberal Democrat members in the survey supported the scheme to cut central control over planning but also introduce a presumption in favour of development if plans are sustainable and in line with local policies.

However, …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Independent View: Alternatives to Trident replacement must include the possibility of no nuclear weapons

By Kate Hudson | Published 28th May 2011 - 12:23 pm

Since Liam Fox made his announcement last week that while Trident replacement design is going ahead, the Lib Dems will also be looking at alternatives, there has been a flurry of derision about the latter initiative. Most obviously this comes from Liam Fox and the hard–line pro-nuclear lobby who just want to rubbish it. But criticism of Lib Dem efforts also comes from some anti-nuclear quarters and I am not convinced that this is totally reasonable.

From my point of view, it would be very easy to have a pop at the Lib Dem leadership for not backing CND’s maximum programme …

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Posted in The Independent View | Also tagged , , | 13 Comments

Julian Huppert MP writes on Trident: We don’t need to keep fighting the Cold War

By Julian Huppert MP | Published 18th May 2011 - 3:53 pm

I have believed for a long time that we don’t want nuclear weapons, we can’t afford them, and they weaken our moral authority to persuade other people not to obtain them. I proposed the emergency motion on this which we passed last year.

So how do I feel after today’s statement on the Initial Gate for Trident replacement?

Disappointed – but also encouraged and heartened by what we have achieved. Nick Harvey, our Minister, has helped to secure a 25% reduction in the overall number of warheads, and cost reductions to ease the financial burden. But this is not enough to …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 19 Comments

Nick Harvey talks up closer nuclear cooperation with the French

By Mark Pack | Published 1st April 2011 - 2:53 pm

In a speech yesterday Minister for the Armed Forces Nick Harvey both showed how ministers can stake out clearly different ground from the Conservatives and also gave a hint of major debates over nuclear weapons yet to come.

In his speech to the Franco-British Council Defence Co-operation Conference Nick Harvey said,

As you will know, the two parties in the UK coalition Government have a different approach to the renewal of the current Trident system, but we are jointly pledged to maintain Britain’s nuclear deterrent…

As a Liberal Democrat Minister in this UK Coalition Government, I have the freedom to explore and argue

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 6 Comments

The Independent View: We cannot have back-door Trident replacement

By Kate Hudson | Published 21st February 2011 - 10:37 am

Delaying the decision, on whether or not to replace Trident, until 2016, has been the best bit of news to come out of the coalition government. This was announced, to the delight and relief of many, in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) last October.Of crucial importance, it makes Trident a general election issue – a fact, as Nick Harvey has stated, ‘of huge political significance’. Indeed, it holds out the possibility of defeat for a new generation of nuclear weapons. Given that the majority of the population has for some time backed scrapping Trident, this …

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Posted in The Independent View | Also tagged , , , | 21 Comments

The Saturday debate: Does Britain need nuclear weapons?

By Mark Pack | Published 22nd January 2011 - 8:55 am

Here’s your starter for ten in our Saturday slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate…

One of the achievements of the Liberal Democrats in Coalition Government so far has been to ensure that no Trident replacement is orders during this Parliament. At the next election the party will be able to say, “We said we opposed Labour and Tory plans for replacing Trident – and those plans haven’t happened”. But is that going far enough; should Britain retain nuclear weapons at all – and if not, when and how should it give them up?

Agree? Disagree? Post your …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 47 Comments

Trident: no renewal this Parliament

By Mark Pack | Published 19th October 2010 - 9:53 pm

The BBC reports that the predicted policy has won the day:

The government says £750m ($1.2bn) will be saved over four years on the Trident nuclear deterrent missile system by cutting the number of warheads on each boat from 48 to 40 and reducing the number of missile tubes from 12 to eight. The UK’s nuclear warhead stockpile will be cut from 160 to less than 120. The final “main gate” spending decision on Trident will also be delayed until 2016 – after the next general election.

Party President Ros Scott has emailed party members, saying

Trident will not be renewed

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , | 15 Comments

Huhne scorns tax breaks for married couples as “flag-waving”

By Stephen Tall | Published 9th October 2010 - 3:58 pm

Today’s Telegraph has an in-depth interview with the Lib Dems’ climate change and energy secretary Chris Huhne, in which he expertly steers the tightrope of punchily sticking up for party policy while sticking well within collective responsibility.

Somewhat bizarrely, both the BBC and the Torygraph are leading on the least contentious part of the interview, in which Chris points out that the Coalition will adjust economic policy according to circumstances and forecasts:

“I’ve never known one Treasury Red Book to be exactly like the last one. There is always a change. It is a bit like setting sail. If the

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , | 6 Comments

Conference: the full-time score

By Mark Pack | Published 26th September 2010 - 9:20 am

Having blogged ten questions for Liberal Democrat conference, along with a conference half-time update, how do things look now the dust has settled from Liverpool for those ten points?

Party strategy

Love your coalition partner all the time in public: that was the clear line taken by Nick Clegg, reinforced by other senior party figures and not challenged directly in any high profile way during conference (save for one question during the Nick Clegg Q&A). And yet… whether or not the party should let its strong debates with the Conservatives within the coalition show a little more in public was …

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Posted in Conference, Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

So how was it for you?

By Linda Jack | Published 24th September 2010 - 9:05 am

Well fellow Lib Dems, Bloggers and Tweeps… what did you make of conference then? Having been granted the honour of being “Guest Editor” (quaking in me boots it has to be said!) I thought, given the timing, it may be an opportunity to reflect on the last week in Liverpool.

What I want to do is to try and get a feel from members across the spectrum of our party, has conference left them feeling uplifted, confused, motivated, anxious, hopeful, proud?
I hope what follows today, especially for those of you who weren’t there, will give you a bit of …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , | 27 Comments

Lib Dems pass motions on Trident and diversity

By The Voice | Published 22nd September 2010 - 3:27 pm

News of two motions passed by Lib Dem conference today…

Diversity: Hughes to propose “radical changes” to promote candidate diversity

Simon Hughes, the party’s deputy leader, commented:

“I am glad that Conference agreed today that there will be a full set of proposals for candidate diversity and that we will have the chance to take decisions to change the face and mix of the Liberal Democrats.

“I will be presenting a paper to the Party’s Federal Executive next month which will propose radical changes in the way we select our candidates.

“This proposal will include the aim that half our candidates will be women …

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Posted in Conference | Also tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Conference: the half-time score

By Mark Pack | Published 20th September 2010 - 2:27 pm

At the start of conference, I blogged the ten issues that I thought would shape conference. Half-way through, how are things looking on the ten?

  1. Strategy: the party’s official line of loving our coalition partners in public has been firmly stuck to by the party’s senior figures, and argued for by Nick Clegg during Q+A at the weekend. Bubbling under the surface are many questions about whether this is the right strategy and if the party could and would be better if it more often made public its disagreements, such as over the opting out of the EU directive

…

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Posted in Conference, Op-eds, Party Presidency | Also tagged , | 3 Comments

Ten questions for conference

By Mark Pack | Published 17th September 2010 - 9:26 am

Doomed!It’s a fair bet that much of the media coverage of Liberal Democrat conference will be of the form ‘THEY’RE DOOMED!’, with the more subtle coverage for the more discerning journalists being ‘Are they doomed?’.

That has, after all, been the standard media fare since long before the Coalition, since before Nick Clegg became an MP, since before David Cameron became an MP, since before Tony Blair become Labour leader and since before John Major became Prime Minister. My money isn’t on the old standard formula changing this time round for …

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Posted in Conference, Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

Poll: Less than 1 in 10 party members support like-for-like Trident replacement

By Mark Pack | Published 16th September 2010 - 6:07 pm

An opinion poll of over 500 Liberal Democrat party members carried out by YouGov for Greenpeace has found that 7% said they supported a like-for-like replacement of Trident.

The key question asked was:

As you may know, there is currently debate about whether or not the UK should replace its Trident nuclear weapons system. Current policy is to replace the Trident submarines with a new fleet of boats, and to replace the ballistic nuclear missiles they carry at a later date. Which of the following options would you favour most?

Replace Trident with a broadly comparable system: 7%
Replace Trident with a cheaper system: …

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Posted in News, Polls | Also tagged , | 8 Comments