Economists for Peace and Security

The Economics of Peace and Security Journal

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A state in denial: Britain's WMD dependency on the United States
Dan Plesch

Vol 3, No 1 - Symposium: The UK Military Industrial Complex, January 2008

Britain is not an independent nuclear power. Its nuclear warheads and delivery systems depend upon American supplied management and technology and have done so since the dawn of the nuclear age. For years these matters were classified and today both governments only supply partial information. Nevertheless, an analysis of the historical records and such government information as is available, particularly from U.S. sources, shows clearly that the U.K. has no independence of procurement and little if any genuine independence of operation. This reality has never been made clear to the public or to many in government and the political and media elites. As a result, the debate in the U.K. and internationally on the future of nuclear weapons is conducted on the false premise that the U.K. is an independent nuclear power.

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