Labour may look at alternative to Trident

Labour says it may rethink its backing for like-for-like replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons system.

The coalition is split on the issue, with the Conservatives backing a straight £20bn replacement of Trident.

The Lib Dems favour a cheaper option, with a study on possible alternatives due to be published in the summer.

Labour says it would consider different options for the future if they provided better value for money while retaining for the UK a "credible" deterrent.

If it did so it would mean a break with past Labour policy - the then Prime Minister Tony Blair committed the party to a like-for-like replacement in 2006.

Trident is a sea-based nuclear weapons system, acquired by the Thatcher government in the early 1980s. It has three parts - submarines, missiles and warheads, and although each component has years of use left, they cannot last indefinitely. The current generation of four submarines would begin to end their working lives some time in the 2020s.

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