Claire Mills

This Insight examines the current nuclear restrictions under New START and the prospects for future arms control.

Bilateral agreements aimed at restricting the nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Soviet Union/Russia have been in place since the early 1970s. For the first time in nearly 50 years that nuclear arms control architecture is now potentially heading towards a crisis.

In a vote in July 2016 the House of Commons approved the decision to maintain the UK’s nuclear deterrent beyond the early 2030s. After almost a decade of work on the project, that vote subsequently enabled the programme to move forward into its manufacturing phase, which will see the construction of four new Dreadnought class ballistic missile submarines over the next 15-20 years.

Since the acquisition of the UK's first strategic nuclear deterrent in the 1950s, the cost of procuring and maintaining it, and which Government department should finance it, has always been a matter of much debate.

In February 2020 the Government confirmed the existence of a replacement warhead programme for its nuclear deterrent. A decision on replacement has been long-awaited, with work on possible options underway since 2006.

The tables in this paper provide a summary of the UK and EU positions in the future relationship negotiations, based on their proposed draft treaty texts and other publicly available statements

A number of initiatives to further the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy have been agreed, with the participation of the UK, since the Brexit referendum in 2016. What do they entail and what will be the impact for the UK now that it is no longer an EU Member State?

This paper provides an update on the first three rounds of negotiations on the future UK-EU relationship and analysis of the draft new partnership treaty tabled by the EU in March 2020

This Briefing Paper illustrates changes that have been made to procedures and practices in response to coronavirus in the House of Commons and a small selection of other parliaments.

The investigation of former British soldiers who served in Northern Ireland during “The Troubles” is currently receiving a significant amount of media and parliamentary attention as a result of several ongoing court cases. It is, however, the result of a process which began over a decade ago.

A Westminster Hall debate on a ‘National Memorial to the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit’ has been scheduled for Thursday 26 March 2020 from 1:30pm. This Backbench Business debate will be led by John Howell MP.

A general debate on ‘The Commonwealth in 2020’ has been scheduled for Monday 9 March 2020 in the Main Chamber.

The UK has played a key role in EU defence and foreign policy co-operation. How will that co-operation be affected now that the UK has left the EU and entered the transition period?