Peter
Viggers, Member of Parliament for Gosport, this week took
part in the debate on Trident and the need for a nuclear
deterrent.
During
the Statement on the retention and upgrading of the country’s nuclear deterrent, Peter said, “In
welcoming this hard decision, I ask the Prime Minister
to reassure us that he truly understands the philosophy
of deterrence, which is complicated and tough. For instance,
does he agree that our negotiating position is always strongest
when we keep all our military options open, which is the
opposite of what we did over Iran?
The
Prime Minister responded by saying, “It is very important that we keep all
our options open, which is precisely the reason why we
are better able to achieve multilateral disarmament if
we maintain our own deterrent.”
Speaking
later, Peter said, “It is vital to understand that the possession
of nuclear hardware in itself is not a strategy. The strategy
is deterrence, and we require a Government that understands
the strategy to protect our country’s interests.
“I
mentioned Iran in particular because Jack Straw specifically
said it was ‘inconceivable’ that there would
be a military strike against that country. He took the
military threat off the table in what is an intensely difficult
area of the world; I believe that this contributed to him
being replaced as Foreign Secretary.
“Some of the
Government’s supporters in this debate – and
indeed, many people in the country as a whole - are naturally
inclined towards CND’s views. However, they reluctantly
agree to support the proposals because they acknowledge
that this is a tough, but necessary decision that we must
take for the protection of our country in the long term.” |
