Alwaght- British conservative government is prepared to launch what it calls a preemptive nuclear strike against any enemy, even if Britain was not under attack, Defense Secretary has said.
“In the most extreme circumstances we have made it very clear that you can’t rule out the use of nuclear weapons as a first strike,” Defense Secretary Michael Fallon told the BBC’s Today program.
When asked in what circumstances, he replied: “They are better not specified or described, which would only give comfort to our enemies and make the deterrent less credible”.
On Sunday, the Labor leader said he would never authorize the use of nuclear weapons and suggested Trident renewal might not be in Labor's election manifesto – only to be corrected within hours by party colleagues.
Speaking to the BBC, Fallon said voters tempted by Labor had been left “completely unsure as to what would actually happen to our nuclear deterrent.”
“I think you saw Jeremy Corbyn yesterday questioning strikes against terrorists, refusing to back the nuclear deterrent, he’s been querying our NATO deployment and he seems to have fallen out with his own party over nuclear deterrent.
“That’s chaos, but it’s very dangerous chaos that would put the security of our country at risk.
Prime Minister Theresa May's official spokesperson later added there was “no reason to disagree with what the defense secretary said.”
Corbyn, a long-standing proponent of total nuclear disarmament, believes a Trident renewal is expensive, unsafe, unsuited for contemporary warfare and in violation of international commitments.
The reckless remarks by Fallon come just days after UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) warned that with over 15,000 nuclear weapons possessed by several states, the world now appears “full of potential for catastrophe.”
Overall, eight states – the US, Russia, China, the UK, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and the Israeli regime – possess more than 15,000 warheads, and global investment in the modernization and development of new, more capable and mobile nuclear weapons continues to rise.
