§ Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence under what circumstances it would be necessary to replace Trident; and what implications this would have for the renewal of Article III of the Mutual Defence Agreement. [142319]
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§ Mr. HoonI refer my hon. Friend to paragraph 3.11 of the Defence White Paper (Cm 6041) which was laid before the House on 11 December, in which the Government stated that
'decisions on whether to replace Trident are not needed this Parliament but are likely to be required in the next one. We will therefore continue to take appropriate steps to ensure that the range of options for maintaining a nuclear deterrent capability is kept open until that decision point'.Implications for the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement, or other relevant agreements, are therefore hypothetical at this stage.