Blair is quite right in pursuing his nuclear policy, for this reason: the time scales involved are long. A decision taken now will affect Britain’s defence policy for the next fifty years – the replacement systems would not even come into service until the 2020s, and that is if the project is on time. It is impossible to predict now whether or not such weapons would be an asset or not, but the precautionary principle dictates that one does not lightly limit future options.
I was intrigued by this speculation about whether Britain’s deterrent truly is independent. Blair certainly believes that, as a technical matter, he doesn’t need authorisation from America to launch, but I would be staggered if America really didn’t have an ‘off’ switch. Then again, if I were the MoD, I’d have spent a lot of time trying to find it. Of course, we’ll never know. And neither will Blair, one must hope.