The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent: Defence White Paper 2006 (Cm 6994)

At the 2005 General Election the Labour manifesto made a commitment to retain the UK's independent nuclear deterrent.

Even with an extension to their lives, the Vanguard class submarines are likely to start leaving service from the early 2020s.

We estimate that it will take around 17 years to design, manufacture and commission a replacement submarine.

So we need to take decisions now on whether to retain this capability in the longer term.