LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th March, 2021) Stop the War Coalition founding member Lindsey German accused the UK government on Tuesday of deliberately escalating the nuclear arms race and putting world peace in danger with its decision to lift the cap on the UK's stockpile of nuclear weapons.
"The raiding of the cap on nuclear warheads is a deliberate escalation of the nuclear arms race and a threat to peace," German told Sputnik.
The UK government announced on Tuesday that as part of the integrated review of security, defense, development and foreign policy for the post-Brexit United Kingdom it will increase the limit from 180 to 260 warheads, in light of the "evolving security environment."
German considered, however, that from the military point of view, there is no justification for such an increase because the country does not face any kind of imminent nuclear threat.
"It is also a terrible waste of money when we can't pay our nurses or house our homeless," she said, adding that "most of the world's countries do not possess these weapons of mass destruction - nor should we."
Reacting to the integrated review, Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley said he was horrified that the Conservative government decided to increase the UK's stockpile of nuclear weapons at a time when the UN is actively seeking to negotiate nuclear disarmament.
"We repeat our demand for the government to live up to its legally binding commitments under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and sign up to the UN Treaty on the Prohibitions of Nuclear Weapons," Barley said in a statement.
In a series of tweets dissecting the report, Labour lawmaker and shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy also questioned the decision on nuclear weapons.
"Arms control: The government says it wants to take a 'leading approach to nuclear disarmament.' Why is it going to increase the number of nuclear warheads in the UK's stockpile?" Nandy tweeted.
As part of its new approach as an independent nation outside the European Union, the United Kingdom will also create a new space command to be able to launch satellites from its soil by 2022, and a new Counter Terrorism Centre.
The government also pledged to deter and defend against "full spectrum of threats" allegedly emerging from Russia and invest in enhancing "Chinafacing" capabilities in order to respond to the systemic challenge coming from the Asian country.
