Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey is calling on the government to start building a “fully independent British nuclear deterrent” to end the UK’s reliance on the US.
The UK has operational control of its nuclear arsenal, including British-built warheads, but it depends on the US to supply and maintain the Trident missiles that would deliver them.
Sir Ed told the BBC: “When we’ve got presidents in the White House like Donald Trump, totally unreliable, I don’t think we can have our nuclear deterrent dependent on the mood at breakfast of the person in the Oval Office.”
The government said the UK had a deep and longstanding relationship with the US and played a key part in the security of Nato.
