Ministers: We will keep working for nuclear-free world

Tony Blair’s announcement that the UK will replace the Trident nuclear weapons system has been praised by his cabinet colleagues.

Defence secretary Des Browne said: "The number of countries equipped with nuclear weapons has continued to grow. We cannot rule out the possibility that at some point in the next 50 years Britain could face a new nuclear threat."

Many Labour MPs are against replacing Trident, and in a concession to their concerns, Mr Blair announced plans to cut the number of nuclear warheads by 20 per cent, to less than 160.

Foreign secretary Margaret Beckett stressed: "We remain committed to working for a world free of nuclear weapons.

"The UK now has the smallest arsenal of the five recognised nuclear weapons powers. And the UK now accounts for only one per cent of the global stockpile of nuclear weapons."