London, July 1, IRNA – MPs have criticised the UK government’s unwillingness to allow independent verification of the country’s nuclear arsenal at a time when it is demanding that IAEA inspectors have full information about Iran’s civilian programme.
Green Party leader Caroline Lucas said that the UK’s refusal to allow independent inspection was “not consistent” with Foreign Secretary William Hague’s assertion about Iran’s failure to co-operate with the international community over nuclear inspections.
In an Early Day Motion to parliament, signed by MPs from other parties, Lucas calls to the British government “to make arrangements for full verification of the UK nuclear warhead stockpile by independent inspectors on behalf of the international community.”
Britain’s unwillingness to allow independent verification of the country’s nuclear arsenal was revealed by Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt last month.
“We have no plans to establish procedures to allow the international community to verify the UK’s nuclear warhead stockpile,” Burt told MPs, arguing that Britain has to “limit access to military sites in order to protect our national security interests and to adhere to safety and security measures.”
The announcement came after Hague revealed for the first time that Britain’s overall stockpile of nuclear warheads would not exceed 225, when confirming no reduction had been made in the maximum number of 160 that are operational, despite pledges by the previous government to cut number.
He claimed that being more open about Britain’s stockpile of warheads will “assist in building a climate of trust between nuclear and non-nuclear weapons states and contribute therefore to future efforts to reduce the number of nuclear weapons worldwide.”
When announcing the controversial replacement of Britain’s Trident nuclear missile system four years ago, the previous Labour government said it would cut Britain’s “operational warheads” by 20 per cent.