Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the decision to proceed with the building of four replacement Trident submarines will require parliamentary approval; and if so, whether they plan to seek such parliamentary approval at the same time as, or before, the Main Gate decision is made.

This Government was elected on a mandate to renew Trident and provide continuous at sea deterrence by replacing the Vanguard-class submarines with a fleet of four Successor submarines. Parliament has already debated the vote twice on the issue, on 14 March 2007 and again on 20 January 2015. A further debate is planned during this Parliament.