Labour Policy Watch: Defence and Disarmament

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	The Tories considered themselves strong on defence and regularly backed new weapons developments by Britain or NATO as well as strong links with the US military including buying US weapons, hosting US bases, etc. They accepted the treaties which gave some stability to the cold war, including the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) treaty, the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) which requires nuclear weapons states to negotiate their own nuclear disarmament and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), but refused to give an assurance not to be the first to use nuclear weapons. They also refused to accept the reality of Gulf War Syndrome, or investigate the health effects of depleted uranium (DU) and the costs of nuclear contamination around British bases.
	Labour policy was:
	1	To cut defence spending to the west European average
	2	To reduce our nuclear weapons stocks to a minimum and scrap the Trident submarine programme
	3	To work positively for international nuclear disarmament
	4	To establish a Defence Diversification Agency to help firms convert from defence to civilian production
	5	To support the ABM and other treaties and oppose the militarisation of space (?)
	6	To pledge not to be the first to use nuclear weapons
	7	To investigate the health effects of British military policy and compensate any victims (?)
	In fact under New Labour:
	1	The spending pledge was dropped and replaced by plans for real-terms increases
	2	Britain's nuclear stocks were reduced, but mainly by destroying obsolete weapons; the Trident programme was completed and a successor to it agreed
	3	We resisted pressure to join any talks on international nuclear disarmament
	4	A DDA was set up but was for using technology from defence in other industries, not for conversion
	5	We did not protest at US withdrawal from the ABM treaty or testing of subcritical nuclear weapons, and we requested a role as a missile base for National Missile Defence (NMD), which could lead to a new nuclear arms race
	6	We refused to make the no-first-use pledge, and appeared to threaten nuclear attacks on non-nuclear states
	7	We denied that Gulf War syndrome existed (though US government advisers found it "probable") and victims had their homes raided and information seized
	In addition:
		Britain voted against the International Court of Justice ruling that use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is illegal, (Was this under Labour?)
		Britain would give no details of its military training programme in Colombia, whose government troops collaborate with death squads and where most of the world's murders of trade unionists occur
		Ministers wanted to change international law to allow pre-emptive strikes
		We supported licensing private mercenary companies and British mercenaries operated in Iraq and elsewhere
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