“It’s just not possible for the UK to have an independent foreign policy, or defence and security policies, if it remains attached at the hip to the US nuclear programme.”
By Kate Hudson, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)
Whoever is in the White House after the upcoming presidential election, one thing is clear: Britain has to break its ‘special nuclear relationship’ with the US. We’re all familiar with the so-called ‘special relationship’, basically tying Britain into really bad foreign policy decisions. But not so many people know about the US-UK Mutual Defence
Agreement (MDA) – the world’s most extensive nuclear sharing agreement.
Known in full as the ‘Agreement between the UK and the USA for cooperation in the Uses of Atomic Energy for Mutual Defence Purposes’, the treaty initially established an agreement between both countries to exchange classified information to develop their respective nuclear weapon systems.
At the start, the MDA prohibited the transfer of nuclear weapons, but an amendment in 1959 allowed for the transfer of nuclear materials and equipment between both countries up to a certain deadline.
This amendment is extended through a renewal of the treaty every ten years, most recently in
2014 – without any parliamentary debate or vote. The British public and parliamentarians initially found out about that extension and ratification when President Obama informed the United States Congress.
Renewing such agreements on the nod, without transparency or accountability, is never a good thing. When it ties us so tightly to nuclear cooperation with the White House this is an even greater cause for concern. The time
has come to really vigorously oppose this Agreement.
It also puts us at odds with our commitments under the NPT: the MDA confirms an indefinite commitment by the
US and UK to collaborate on nuclear weapons technology and violates both countries’ obligations as signatories to
the NPT. The NPT states that countries should undertake ‘to pursue negotiations in good
faith on effective measures relating to… nuclear disarmament’.
Rather than working together to get rid of their nuclear weapons, the UK and US are collaborating on further advancing their nuclear arsenals. Indeed, a 2004 legal advice paper by Rabinder Singh QC and Professor Christine
Chinkin concluded that it is ‘strongly arguable that the renewal of the Mutual Defence Agreement is in
breach of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty’, as it implies ‘continuation and indeed enhancement of the
nuclear programme, not progress towards its discontinuation’.
On every level the MDA must be challenged. It’s just not possible for the UK to have an independent foreign
policy, or defence and security policies, if it remains attached at the hip to the US nuclear programme. When the US
seems hell-bent on taking us into war after war, unquestioning allegiance from the UK cannot continue.
The MDA is up for renewal again this year. Now is the time to start asking the questions, raising the protest,
and making the case for independence. It’s time for the special nuclear relationship to end. Watch this space!
- Kate Hudson is the General Secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
- You can follow Kate on Twitter/X; and follow the CND on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.
- This article was originally published in CND’s March 2024 Campaign Magazine. You can read the full magazine here.
One thought on “A chance to break the nuclear links – Kate Hudson, CND”