Brown move to cut UK nuclear subs

The prime minister is to tell the United Nations that he is willing to cut the UK's fleet of Trident missile-carrying submarines from four to three.

Gordon Brown will make the offer at a meeting of the UN Security Council on halting the spread of nuclear weapons and reducing existing stockpiles（储存）.

The proposed cuts come as the government searches for ways to reduce the massive deficit 1 （赤字）in public finances.

However Number 10 said keeping the UK's nuclear deterrent 2 was "non-negotiable".

At the UN meeting, Mr Brown will call for all nations to come together to achieve the long-term ambition of a nuclear-free world.

Nuclear warheads

He will say: "If we are serious about the ambition of a nuclear-free world we will need statesmanship, not brinkmanship."

US President Barack Obama is chairing the meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday as part of the process of drawing up a replacement 3 for the Non-Proliferation Treaty, designed to stop countries developing nuclear weapons.

Mr Obama has said he will try to negotiate with Moscow to reduce US and Russian nuclear warheads - which make up 95% of the world's total - from 2,000 each to 1,500.



Clegg: 'It's an important development'
The UK government says it has cut its stockpile of Trident warheads（三叉戟弹头） from 200 to 160 but many Labour MPs would like it to scrap 4 the weapons altogether.

But the Liberal Democrats 5 are the only party to say they would not seek a "like for like replacement" for Trident - which is due to need replacing by 2024.

Officials travelling with the prime minister warned that reducing the number of submarines, which are based at Faslane on the Clyde, from four to three would not result in a 25% cut in cost.

Estimates for the cost of replacing Trident vary - the government puts it at between £15bn and £20bn but Greenpeace says it could cost £34bn, once extra costs like VAT 6 and exchange rates are taken into account.

Costs 'unclear'

Greenpeace and the Lib Dems say the overall cost - including the lifetime running costs of the system - amount to nearly £100bn.

Professor Ron Smith, a defence economist 7 at Birkbeck College, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that going from four to three submarines （潜艇）would probably have little effect on Britain's nuclear capability 8.

"The idea of having four of them is essentially（本质） you have got one spare as insurance," he said.


As President Obama said in Prague, this is a very long-term goal which may outlive his children, not just himself

David Miliband
Foreign Secretary
He added that the cost of replacing Trident was "very unclear" but working on the MoD's estimate of £20bn, losing one submarine would only save "a couple of billion" in about 2020 as there were a lot of fixed 9 costs upfront and each boat cost less to build than the last one.

Downing Street says maintaining an independent nuclear weapon system is "non-negotiable".

Foreign Secretary David Miliband added: "We reject unilateral nuclear disarmament for ourselves precisely 10 because the world cannot end up in a situation where responsible powers get rid of their weapons, but the danger of nuclear proliferation by other powers remains 11.

"As President Obama said in Prague, this is a very long-term goal which may outlive his children, not just himself."

'Useless weapons'

The Liberal Democrats have pointed 12 out that Mr Brown does not appear to be proposing reducing Britain's total number of warheads.

But leader Nick Clegg said it was still an important development. He told the BBC: "I really do welcome that finally the dam has burst on this.

"It's just unrealistic for us to believe that we can foot the £100bn like-for-like replacement costs for Trident over the next 25 years.

"I think the strategic context in which that decision is taking place is very different as well - we're not facing the Cold War threat in the same way that we once were."

Kate Hudson, chairwoman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), said the proposals were "a serious and positive first step towards the scrapping 13 of both the current Trident nuclear weapons system and its replacement".

But she said the ultimate goal should be total disarmament. (本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)