[SOUTHAFRICATODAY.NET] On Monday, British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon confirmed that his Prime Minister Theresa May "is prepared to launch Trident in the most extreme circumstances", as a first strike attack, even if Britannia itself was not under nuclear attack.
The comments came during an interview with Britannia’s "Today" program on BBC Radio Four.
"In the most extreme circumstances we have made it very clear that you can’t rule out the use of nuclear weapons as a first strike," the UK’s defense chief said.
When asked in what circumstances, he replied: "They are better not specified or described, which would only give comfort to our enemies and make the deterrent less credible."
"The whole point about the deterrent is that you have got to leave uncertainty in the mind of anyone who might be thinking of using weapons against this country," Michael Fallon added.
The comments apparently come in response to the remarks of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who signaled he would not launch attacks and could scrap the Trident deterrent.
Trident is the UK’s nuclear missile system designed as a deterrent to stop foreign powers attacking Britannia and its allies.
The name refers to the missiles which are carried by four Vanguard class submarines, which have up to eight nuclear warheads each.
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