Patrick Wintour and Richard Norton-Taylor, Saturday July 8, 2006
The Guardian <http://www.guardian.co.uk>
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,1815762,00.html
The defence secretary, Des Browne, yesterday strongly hinted he would join other senior ministers in supporting the retention of a British independent nuclear deterrent. He highlighted "the terrifying prospect" of a state with nuclear weapons linking up with a terrorist group…
Quotes extracted from the article linked above:
Defence secretary, Des Browne: "There has been significant leakage from the North Koreans' nuclear development. We will need to look into what we know about non-state actors such as al-Qaida who are playing a significant and dangerous role in the future of our security."
Lord Healey, former Labour defence secretary: "Nuclear weapons are infinitely less important in our foreign policy than they were in the days of the cold war. I don't think we need nuclear weapons any longer," he told BBC News 24's Straight Talk. "I think the military case now for nuclear weapons has gone.", "Refusal to comment on warhead design work at Aldermaston appears to be further evidence of an intention to suppress debate."