London, UK, March 14 2007 – Today's parliamentary vote to replace Trident – Britain's nuclear weapons programme – while demanding that other nations forgo joining the nuclear club is yet another example of the UK government's double standards and an attempt to enforce nuclear apartheid. Before today's vote, a national newspaper reported that the Ministry of Defence has admitted that the Trident upgrade is already under way.

Commenting on the Trident vote, Dr Imran Waheed, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, said, "The vote for Trident sends a signal to nations around the globe that if they wish to feel secure in an unpredictable world they must acquire weapons of mass destruction. One doesn't have to be an expert in international relations to understand why Iran, labelled a member of the axis of evil, surrounded by 150,000 US troops and an aggressive nuclear Israel, would want to join the WMD premier league."

"While America and Britain cite Article 1 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) continuously to condemn Iran, they pay lip service to their own commitments to actively disarm their nuclear programmes under Article VI of the NPT. While Tony Blair claims that tackling weapons of mass destruction is one of the key objectives of British foreign policy, it seems the UK's own nuclear arsenal is not part of that agenda."

"This decision makes the world a more dangerous place and reinforces the hypocrisy of a government which invaded Iraq on the basis of lies about Weapons of Mass Destruction but now plans to build its own new Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is no wonder that many around the world believe that the threat to world peace emanates from decisions made in Downing Street and the White House."

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