Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what distinction, if any, they draw between deterrence and preparedness to fight a nuclear war in (1) determining the UK’s nuclear weapons capability, and (2) assessing the nuclear weapons capability of other states; and whether the UK nuclear weapons strategy is based on deterrence or on preparedness to fight a nuclear war.

Nuclear war means deterrence has failed. The primary role of the Armed Forces is to deter: our nuclear deterrent sits at the apex of UK deterrence strategy, delivered through Continuous at Sea Deterrence which provides an invulnerable second-strike capability. We will continue to keep our nuclear posture under constant review in light of the international security environment and the actions of potential adversaries.