𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Britain has been urged to leave its adversaries in no doubt that NATO will still have a nuclear deterrent even if the United States stays on the sidelines in a future crisis. The Prime Minister, the Defence Secretary and the Home Secretary are encouraged to take part in “large scale nuclear exercises” to strengthen Britain’s credibility as a nation prepared to defend itself with nuclear weapons.

The UK must be ready to act as the lead NATO members in such emergencies, according to a new report endorsed by President George W Bush’s former special adviser on nuclear issues. Franklin Miller, who was also a nuclear specialist at the US Department of Defence, has sounded the alarm about the threat posed by Russia and China.

He warns that following the end of the Cold War, the experts and officials who guided Britain “through the epic nuclear confrontation with the USSR took an intellectual holiday” – but Moscow and Beijing did not. In his foreword to an analysis from the Policy Exchange think tank, he describes how Vladimir Putin launched a “massive modernisation of Russia’s intercontinental and sub-strategic nuclear systems” in the early 2010s, with China’s Xi Jinping also launching a “breathtaking” build-up of nuclear forces.

Britain’s efforts to modernise the submarine fleet and the Atomic Weapons Establishment are “not enough”, he warns and “much more needs be done” for the UK to have a “credible deterrent”. The former presidential adviser acknowledges the “unsteadiness in America’s commitment to NATO” and calls on Britain to “assume a greater leadership role within the alliance”.

He said Britain must make it clear “that any potential adversary can assume that if (for whatever unimaginable reasons) the American government chose to stay on the sidelines in a crisis NATO still has a nuclear deterrent to counter threats”.

A key question facing the nation is whether to invest in a “sovereign mid-range nuclear system of its own” at a time of “obvious uncertainties associated with American attitudes”.

The author of the report, Policy Exchange’s Daniel Skeffington, argues that in order to deter the nation’s foes, there should be “large-scale nuclear exercises involving senior politicians, including the Prime Minister, Defence Secretary, and Home Secretary, actively rehearsing nuclear operations with field forces”.

An “absolute necessity” is that Britain must invest in upgrading “additional airfields to disperse its conventional and nuclear-capable aircraft in a crisis”.

He states: “This must be a priority for the Government, and funding must be given to stand this up quickly.”

Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge said: “This report is a serious warning that deterrence only works if our adversaries believe Britain has both the capability and the resolve to act. But under Labour, we have no Defence Investment Plan, no real plan to boost defence spending, and no willingness to take the tough decisions needed to reduce the welfare bill. Only the Conservatives have a fully funded plan to deliver more than £20billion of additional spending for Defence this Parliament – by restoring the two child benefit cap; scrapping Labour’s crazy Chagos deal and moving billions from Ed Miliband’s net zero vanity projects into Defence.”

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “Our commitment to Britain’s nuclear deterrent is absolute. It protects us every moment of every day. As we face an increasingly volatile world, our nuclear deterrent is more important than ever. Following the Strategic Defence Review, we are investing £15billion in the UK’s sovereign nuclear warhead programme, significantly expanding our nuclear-powered submarine fleet, building up to 12 attack submarines as part of AUKUS programme, and procuring 12 nuclear capable F35-As in response to the rapidly increasing threats. We are a leader in the alliance – committing our nuclear deterrent in full to the defence of NATO, and we will join NATO’s dual capable aircraft mission, keeping Britain safe at home and strong abroad.”