Asked by: Lord Oates (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they are giving to securing the full independence of the UK's nuclear deterrent.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I can assure the noble Lord that the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent is completely operationally independent. Only the Prime Minister can authorise the firing of our nuclear weapons, even if they are to be employed as part of a NATO response.
The UK has a longstanding, close relationship with the US on all defence nuclear issues, which has endured through many changes of Government in our two nations. Our extant long-term arrangements under the 1958 Mutual Defense Agreement and the 1963 Polaris Sales Agreement (as amended in 1982 for Trident) provide for co-operation and collaboration which has been, and continues to be, of considerable mutual benefit to both nations.
Asked by: Lord Oates (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the indirect impact on the climate of RAF flights from the formation of aircraft contrails.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
There has not been a direct assessment of contrails formed by RAF flights. However, the Department for Transport has published scientific assessments covering all aviation.
The most recent scientific assessment of the historical, global, impact of aviation on the environment, including through contrails, is presented in the recent publication "The Contribution of global aviation to anthropogenic climate forcing for 2000 to 2018" by Lee et al., 2020, a copy of which is available in The Library of the House.