(ANTIMEDIA) Britain’s new Prime Minister offered a chilling response when asked in Parliament if she was “prepared to authorise a nuclear strike that could kill hundreds of thousands of men, women and children.”
“Yes,” Theresa May bluntly answered, adding, “And I have to say to the honourable gentleman the whole point of a deterrent is that our enemies need to know that we would be prepared to use it, unlike some suggestions that we could have a deterrent but not actually be willing to use it, which seem to come from the Labour party frontbench.”
The Scottish National Party’s George Kerevan questioned the former home secretary during a parliamentary debate on whether to renew the nation’s Trident nuclear program, which was initially purchased from the United States and implemented during the Cold War. The program costs 30 billion to renew and would sustain four submarines carrying nuclear warheads and missiles.
Ironically, the same woman who flatly confirmed she would kill hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children also lectured Parliament on responsibility. She said failure to renew the program would be “an act of gross irresponsibility,” accusing opponents of being “the first to defend the country’s enemies.”
May’s stance is ultimately unsurprising considering her past record. She voted for the Iraq War in 2003, when she was a member of parliament. As the home secretary, May brokered a secretive deal with Saudi Arabia’s brutal regime. She also advanced restrictive surveillance policies alongside former conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, in spite of objections.
Though her response might have been predictable, previous prime ministers have avoided answering the same question. Former Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe, said “it was a question no prime minister should ever answer directly,” the Independent noted.
Jeremy Corbyn, the beloved Labour Party politician, offered his opinion on the question, though he was not asked for it. “I’m not making the decision that kills millions of innocent people,” he said, adding, “I do not believe the threat of mass murder is a legitimate way to go about international relations.”
May’s ascension to power follows former Prime Minister David Cameron’s departure from office following the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, a move considered to be a reflection of rising right-wing sentiments in the country. Though many voted with the end goal of restoring a degree of freedom, others arguably did so out of growing xenophobia, especially related to the current refugee crisis—which is a direct result of right-wing ideology and policies like killing hundreds of thousands of people.
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