A History Of British Prime Minister's On Trident Nuclear Weapons, In Their Own Words
David Cameron(01 of07)
Open Image Modal"The world we live in is very uncertain, very dangerous: there are nuclear states and one cannot be sure of how they will develop," Cameron told workers at a defence contractor in Glasgow in 2013.
"We cannot be sure on issues of nuclear proliferation, and to me having that nuclear deterrent is quite simply the best insurance policy that you can have, that you will never be subject to nuclear blackmail." (credit:Andy Buchanan/PA Archive)
Tony Blair(02 of07)
Open Image ModalTony Blair has labelled Trident the UK's "ultimate insurance", and when in office advocated it be kept at least until the year 2050.
He delivered a speech in 2006 to the Commons on the matter, saying: "The government's judgment, on balance, is that, though the Cold War is over, we cannot be certain in the decades ahead that a major nuclear threat to our strategic interests will not emerge, that there is also a new and potentially hazardous threat from states such as North Korea which claims already to have developed nuclear weapons or Iran which is in breach of its non-proliferation duties.
"There is a possible connection between some of those states and international terrorism, that it is noteworthy that no present nuclear power is or is even considering divesting itself of its nuclear capability unilaterally.
"In these circumstances, it would be unwise and dangerous for Britain, alone of any of the nuclear powers, to give up its independent nuclear deterrent. (credit:PA/PA Archive)
Margaret Thatcher(03 of07)
Open Image ModalThatcher was a keen supporter of 'Polaris', as Tident's predecessor was known - her and US President Jimmy Carter agreeing to institute the weapons system as it has become known today.
In a letter to the Finchley Times, Thatcher (who was MP for the newspaper's area), claimed Trident was "Britain's defence of last resort". She wrote: "Our nuclear deterrent guarantees the defence of the United Kingdom, and it has done so successfully for more than half of my life and yours.
"Every government of this country since 1945 has—once faced with responsibility for Britain's security—seen the need for Britain to have an independent nuclear deterrent. It is a key part of our contributior to collective defence through the Atlantic Alliance. It also provides Britain's defence of last resort." (credit:PA/PA Archive)
Jim Callaghan(04 of07)
Open Image ModalLabour's Prime Minister between 1976 and 1979 is the only person to have ever revealed what he wrote in the 'Letter of Last Reserve' - a note passed to submarine captains with orders on what action to take if Britain is besieged by a nuclear attack and the PM has been killed.
He had this to say: “If it were to become necessary or vital, it would have meant the deterrent had failed, because the value of the nuclear weapon is frankly only as a deterrent. But if we had got to that point, where it was, I felt, necessary to do it, then I would have done it.
I’ve had terrible doubts, of course, about this. I say to you, if I had lived after having pressed that button, I could never ever have forgiven myself.” (credit:Rob Taggart via Getty Images)
Harold Wilson(05 of07)
Open Image ModalWilson had pledged in 1964, the year he was first elected to office, to all but abolish Britain's nuclear forces. But by the end of his tenure and givien the rising pressure from Soviet expansionsim, he conceded and effectively ensured their retention.
But he did eventually call for unilateral disarmament, saying in during his second Prime Ministerial tenure in 1975: "The proliferation of nuclear weapons threatens the security of us all.
"It is not a question that possession of such weapons confers anyspecial status on the possessor — and it certainly confers awesome responsibilities. And it is certainly the profound hope of all nuclear weapon states that this burden can eventually be shed through multilateral negotiations on nuclear disarmament in which of course it would be essential that China also take part." (credit:PA/PA Wire)
Clement Attlee(06 of07)
Open Image ModalThe former Labour PM heralded a new-dawn for world peace when imagining the role nuclear weapons such as the atomic bomb could play in Britain and on the world stage.
Writing in 1945 he conceded: "Scientists agree we cannot stop the march of discovery. We can assume that any attempt to keep this as a sexrew in the hands of the USA and UK is useless. Scientists in other countries are certain in time to hit upon the secret.
"The only course which seems to me to be feasible and to offer a reasonable hope of staving off imminent disaster for the world is joint action by the USA, UK and Russia based upon stark reality. We should declare that this invention has made it essential to end wars. The new World Order must start now.
"All nations must give up their dreams of realising some historic expansion at the expense of their neighbours. They must look to a peaceful future instead of to a war-like past.
"This sort of thing has in the past been considered a utopian dream. It has become today the essential condition of the survival of civilisation and possible of life in this planet." (credit:Keystone-France via Getty Images)
Ernest Bevin(07 of07)
Open Image ModalWhile never Prime Minister, Bevin was instrumental in his role as Foreign Secretary under the post-war Labour administration in acquiring a British nuclear weapon, to rival those of the United States' and USSR's.
"We have got to have this thing over here whatever it costs... we have got to have [a] bloody Union Jack on top of it," he said. (credit:Daily Herald Archive/SSPL/Getty Images)