A Labour government will commit to renewing Trident, a key member of Ed Miliband’s shadow cabinet has confirmed.
Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said the party’s election manifesto will contain a commitment to renewing the nuclear deterrent.
The renewal of Trident is a major election issue in Scotland, where the SNP is committed to scrapping the nuclear weapons system.
Labour’s support for maintaining the nuclear deterrent could be a stumbling block to any post-election deal with the SNP.
On BBC Radio 5’s Pienaar’s Politics, Mr Khan was asked about reports that Lord Wood, another member of Mr Miliband’s inner circle, wanted to abandon Labour’s commitment to Trident.
Asked to confirm that Labour will stick to the promise to renew the weapons system, Mr Khan said: “I can and I do. And you’ll see the manifesto published shortly which will say that.”
The fleet of four Vanguard-class submarines which carry the Trident missiles are due to be replaced from 2028, with a final decision on whether to replace all four due to be taken in 2016 – after the 2015 election.
Asked whether Labour’s commitment would be “pretty much a like for like replacement” for the system, Mr Khan said: “Yeah, I mean this has been discussed many, many times, not just within the Labour Party but in Parliament as well.”