British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon, a Conservative member, repeatedly refused to confirm his party's stance on the Trident program during Tuesday's BBC Daily Politics election debate.
Instead of answering a direct question on why Conservatives would not support a minority Labour government on renewing Trident, Fallon said that the way to be absolutely sure about the UK nuclear defense was to vote Conservative.
Fallon added that the country needed to avoid the question "by the certainty of a Conservative government that is absolutely committed."
"The Tories' desperation was shown clearly today as Michael Fallon was exposed playing politics with Britain's nuclear deterrent. He shamefully refused six times to confirm whether the Tories would vote to renew the deterrent if there was a Labour government," Labour defense spokesman Vernon Coaker was quoted as saying by The Guardian after the debate.
The Conservatives, currently the ruling party, insist on building four new nuclear missile-armed submarines, while the Labour Party has suggested reducing the number of submarines from four to three.
Britain currently operates four Trident submarines from the Faslane area of Scotland, the only facility in the United Kingdom able to accommodate the country's nuclear deterrent. Each submarine is able to carry 16 surface-to-air missiles.
The potential cost of renewing the Trident nuclear deterrent infrastructure is estimated to be about 100 billion pounds (some $150 billion), which roughly equals the 2013/2014 budget of the country's healthcare service.
