Maggie Throup MP, Member of Parliament for Erewash has released the following statement regarding the renewal of the UK's Trident nuclear weapons system:
It is the first duty of any Government, and by extension any Parliament, to protect the citizens that they represent.
We live in an increasingly unstable world, where Britain faces external threats from both conventional nation states such as Russia and North Korea, as well as from terrorist groups such as ISIS.
It is impossible to say with any certainty what threats to our national security may emerge over the next 30 or 40 years.
Britain uses its nuclear capability everyday as a deterrent against those who wish our citizens harm.
To therefore give up these weapons would be to take a gamble with the safety and security of families in Erewash and more widely across Britain, one which I nor the Conservative Party are willing to take.
It is because of these facts that I back the Government’s decision to forge ahead with the renewal of our nuclear submarine programme and the continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent that they carry.