Overview
- Speaking at the Liberal Democrats’ spring conference in York, Davey set out a two-step plan: establish UK maintenance for Trident now and develop a British-made replacement in the 2040s.
- He framed the push around doubts about US reliability under President Trump, saying American-made missiles and US maintenance undercut true independence.
- Pressed on funding, Davey acknowledged he had no cost estimate for creating a sovereign missile programme or domestic servicing capability.
- The Ministry of Defence said the current deterrent protects the UK every minute of every day and remains the cornerstone of national defence and NATO commitments.
- Analysts, including Chatham House, warned an autonomous replacement would be hugely costly and that cooperation with France would still leave reliance on an ally, and the government has not adopted Davey’s plan.