A 40-year-old cornerstone of the UK’s nuclear deterrent doctrine – the ability to overwhelm Moscow’s ballistic missile defences and obliterate the Russian capital – is being challenged in a government review.
In an internal debate with far-reaching implications for future nuclear capability, Nick Harvey, the Liberal Democrat armed forces minister in the UK’s coalition government, is questioning the so-called Moscow Criterion, which some people see as a Cold War relic.
Since the 1970s, Britain’s deterrent policy has been based on the principle that the nation would possess the nuclear capability to overwhelm an opposing capital’s air defences and destroy its government and military command centre. Government officials are now considering whether the UK’s deterrent threat should be more limited in scope, arguing that it could still inflict unacceptable damage on a foe by wiping out smaller cities or military facilities.