Trident Speech

1.48.00pm GMT Sat 3rd Mar 2007

Conference debated Trident today, the amendment I was supporting failed to pass, by just 40 votes! The motion that passed is an improvement on our current position, the Liberal Democrats are now committed to reducing Trident by 50%. I put a card in but was not called, if I had spoken I would have said the following:

Good Morning Conference,

I am regressive, irresponsible and irrational; well that is if you believe Nick Harvey and the movers of the motion. They claim their motion to be progressive, responsible and rational, suggesting anyone who is opposed to it is the opposite; I would certainly argue that I am not!

If I am however, I am in good company. Although he couldn't be here in person today, with me in spirit is me is the Mayor of Hiroshima, Mr. Akiba. I have here a copy of a letter he sent to Ming just a couple of weeks ago imploring him to reject Trident. He says "In the name of Hiroshima, in the name of the human race, I call on the British government to immediately terminate all new development of nuclear weapons and begin destroying all existing nuclear weapons. I ask that the United Kingdom adhere conscientiously to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice declaring that the threat or use of nuclear weapons is illegal under international law, and live up to the promise clearly stated in the NPT of an unequivocal undertaking to eliminate its nuclear arsenal. I fervently hope that Great Britain will take the lead in making the 21st a genuinely peaceful century free from nuclear weapons."

Conference, by writing to Ming he is asking us as Liberal Democrats to take a lead. Sadly, this motion doesn't do that. Amendment Two does.

Passing the motion would unamended, as others have said, send a message; that the Liberal Democrats are happy to sit on the fence, being neither for, nor against. It sends a message to other states developing, or wishing to develop, nuclear weapons that its okay for the UK to carry on having these weapons but they can't. How hypocritical.

We are told Trident is needed as a deterrent, although the Party, when it announced the motion, couldn't identify who we are trying to deter. In the past, during the Cold War there was an obvious threat, now there is not. Whatever the arguments about deterrents, the Cold War days of two nuclear power blocks facing off against each other are in the past. There is no such threat today. Having Trident has not deterred other countries from developing their own nuclear weapons.

The UK, and the USA have both, of course, been attacked despite having nuclear weapons; both have been attacked by terrorists. Trident could not be used against those terrorists, as they were not based in one country, one city or one place and if you can't use Trident when you have been attacked what's the point? One retired General summarised Trident as: "useless, expensive and dangerous".

Why now? The movers of the motion need to wake up to the realpolitik of the situation. Although Trident does not need to be replaced for 15-20 years, Blair has decided that a decision is going to be taken in this Parliament. Can the Liberal Democrats really get up in Parliament and say "actually we will vote later on this matter?" I don't think so. We should be bold and make a decision now or else we run the risk of missing the national debate altogether.

Supporters of the motion have also argued that if we were to not replace Trident, we would lose our place at the negotiating table. Well surely it's better to be leading by example, as the Mayor of Hiroshima urges us to. We could still have a say even if we have no nuclear weapons. Only two of the EU3 dealing with Iran over their nuclear development have nuclear weapons and, of course, we are a permanent member of the UN Security Council; we will still have a voice with or without Trident.

Conference, let us listen to Mayor Akiba. Let us have the courage of our convictions. Let us take the lead, show Labour, the Conservatives and the British public that it is the Liberal Democrats that are committed to peace and the elimination of nuclear weapons across the world.

Let us do this by backing Amendment Two.

Thank you.