In Defence news today there is reporting on Trident, Daesh training camps and Syrian peace talks.
Trident
The Sun reports on the vote to renew Trident which they say is pencilled in for before Parliament’s Easter holidays.
Independent Deterrent
Reporting in yesterday’s Financial Times and a letter in today’s Independent suggest that the UK’s nuclear deterrent is far from independent, and that we would need US approval to fire a nuclear missile.
In fact, the UK deterrent is completely operationally independent and UK does not need permission of the US (or anyone else) to launch its Trident missiles.
An MOD spokesperson said:
The command and control system of the nuclear deterrent is fully independent and decision-making and use of the system remains entirely sovereign to the UK.
Daesh
Articles in the Daily Telegraph, The Star, The Times and The Guardian report that Europol has warned that Daesh has set up secret training camps across Europe to prepare terrorists to carry out "special forces style" attacks in UK or other EU countries. The papers say that Daesh could also seek to recruit refugees who have fled to Europe to use them to launch terror attacks in countries that have given them shelter, the agency has said. Europol reportedly refuses to say in which countries camps suspected to be, but security and police sources are quoted to say they are not aware of any in UK.
Syria
The Independent reports that Syrian talks have been delayed while the UN seeks agreement on the participants. The UN envoy to Syria is said to be sending out invitations today but has declined to confirm whether Islamist rebel groups Ahrar Al-Sham and Jaysh Al-Islam, whose presence is strongly opposed by Syria and its allies in Moscow, will be included.
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