LABOUR have unveiled plans for a Trident “triple lock” – as Keir Starmer hailed the party’s “unshakeable commitment to Nato”.
The Labour leader was joined at a campaign event in Greater Manchester on Monday morning by 10 ex-military Labour candidates, in a bid to boost the party’s national security credentials.
Starmer said that national security was “the most important issue of our times” as he insisted the world was at “perhaps more dangerous and volatile than any time” since World War Two.
Labour have said they will continue the Government’s plans for the ongoing construction of four new nuclear submarines being built in Barrow-in-Furness and maintain the continuous at-sea deterrent.
The third commitment in the Trident “triple lock” is a pledge to deliver upgrades for nuclear submarines.
Speaking at the the Fusilier Museum in Bury, Starmer attacked Rishi Sunak for challenging Labour’s credibility on security.
He said: “Throughout the whole of this Parliament, I have deliberately not been partisan over issues of national security.
“But just before this election, the Tories questioned this Labour Party’s commitment to national security and I will not let that stand.
“The people of Britain need to know that their leaders will keep them safe and we will.”
He added: “National security is the most important issue of our times, something which is of course always true, and which for us, if we’re privileged to serve our country, will become our solemn responsibility.”
While to their left, Labour are under attack by the SNP for supporting weapons of mass destruction, they have also been challenged by the Tories because of senior members’ shifting positions on Trident.
Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy faces particular scrutiny from the Tories because he in 2016 voted against renewing Trident, saying he was opposed to nuclear weapons on principle.
Starmer said his commitment to Trident was “absolute” and insisted he would press the nuclear button but claimed the circumstances under which he would do so were top secret.
He said: “As to the circumstances in which the deterrent would be used, obviously that is a matter of high confidentiality.
“You wouldn’t and nobody would expect someone who is serious about being prime minister to disclose the circumstances in which he or she might take action.”
SNP defence spokesperson Martin Docherty-Hughes (below) blasted Starmer’s nuclear policy, saying it was “not only morally abhorrent, but financially reckless”.
He added: “Nuclear weapons have no place in Scotland, and only a vote for the SNP in July will protect Scotland’s interest against the Labour and Tories – neither of whom will do what the people in Scotland want and scrap Trident nuclear weapons for good.
“In the middle of a cost of living crisis, it is objectively wrong that Keir Starmer would funnel billions of pounds of public money into keeping weapons of mass destruction on our doorstep in Scotland, while families are still living in poverty after 14 years of Tory austerity, and our budget from the UK government keeps getting slashed.”
