Lord Judd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that any extension of the mutual defence agreement with the United States does not pre-empt decisions by Parliament on the future of Trident.

Lord Astor of Hever

Renewal of the Mutual Defence Agreement (MDA) does not pre-empt a Main Gate decision on the Successor submarine in 2016. The MDA underpins the nuclear relationship between the UK and US and enables the UK to procure from the US certain non-nuclear components for the existing UK warhead.
The Government’s policy is to maintain and renew the continuous at sea nuclear deterrent based on a submarine system and Trident missiles.