David Cameron entered a diplomatic row last night as he equated the future threat from China with that from Iran. David Miliband was quick to condemn the remarks.
David Cameron entered a diplomatic row during the leaders’ debate last night as he equated the future threat from China with that from Iran. Foreign Secretary David Miliband was quick to condemn the move.
During the debate, speaking in defence of the Conservative party policy to “renew britain’s submarine-based nuclear deterrent, based on the Trident missile system”, David Cameron said:
“Are we really happy to say that we’d give up our independent nuclear deterrent when we don’t know what is going to happen with Iran, we can’t be certain of the future in China?”
Watch it:
Foreign Secretary David Miliband was quick to condemn Cameron’s words:
“To put China and Iran in the same bracket is an insult to a follow permanent member of the UN security council and to a country with whom we have just announced a close strategic relationship. David Cameron should withdraw this slur now.”
The Conservatives issued a statement: “David Cameron was demonstrating the extent of uncertainties in the world, not saying China is a threat to the U.K.”
Scrapping Trident would not mean losing an independent nuclear deterrent. As Nick Clegg made clear on the Today programme last week, “you could equip the Astute submarine”. Left Foot Forward has estimated that £45 billion could be saved through this approach.
UPDATE 12.55:
Anna Chen writes for Labour List:
“Is Cameron seriously equating China with “rogue state” Iran? May I ask you in your saner moments, David (assuming you have any): with all the money they’re pouring into saving our sorry skint skins, why would China want to nuke its own investment?”
UPDATE 19.04:
Mike Ion has an interesting take on why “the scrapping of Trident could end up being a vote winner and not a vote loser.”
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33 Responses to “David Cameron sees reds under the bed”
NewLeftProject
RT @leftfootfwd: David Cameron sees reds under the bed equating risk from China & Iran http://bit.ly/bZrtZB
Cameron's fear of Beijing wide of the mark | Left Foot Forward
[…] “of the future in China” as a reason for maintain Trident and comparing China to Iran; see this post on Left Foot Forward for a video of Cameron’s […]
John Banks
David Cameron must be the flimsiest Opposition Leader ever!
David Cameron sees reds under the bed « The best Labour blogs
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DevonChap
Oh dear. Do you really think China will take offence? Is it offensive to Russia, America and India that China has a nuclear deterrent? No, though that is who it is aimed at. They understand then long lead times in nuclear weapons; we are making decisions for the next 50 years. China is clearly a growing power, we hope they will develop peacefully but history shows that it is rare for the rise of a great power to be totally peaceful (just look at Germany and Japan in the 19th and 20th centuries). The Chinese are great historians; they understand we need insurance for national self determination. It is hardly a slur to say we don’t know how China and the UK will be politically in 50 years.
Trident renewal is aimed at Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, India, Russia and China. All are nuclear states, or attempting to become such, whose history with the UK hasn’t always been peaceful and whose political direction over the next 50 years is unclear. You could say replacing Trident is a slur against them and we should accept assurances none will threaten our interests in the next half century. But then you would sound naive.