Britain's nuclear warhead total revealed

Britain revealed for the first time yesterday the full size of its atomic weapons -arsenal in an effort to boost international confidence in the scope and nature of its independent nuclear deterrent.

But while the announcement allowed William Hague, the foreign secretary, to bring the UK into line with recent reform of nuclear weapons policy in the US, it still left key questions unanswered on the future of the submarine-launched deterrent.

Addressing the House of Commons in the Queen's Speech debate on foreign policy, Mr Hague said the UK would for the first time be revealing the total number of nuclear warheads in its possession. Until now, Britain has said it has no more than 160 operationally available warheads, which can be fired immediately by four nuclear-armed submarines.

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