UK must have independent nuclear deterrent, says major parliamentary report

Amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, calls are growing in Britain for a major re-evaluation of the country's foreign policy - and its nuclear deterrent.

The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, a parliamentary committee tasked with monitoring the government's security strategy, published a new report late last week.

The committee warned that the country should prepare for scenarios in which the country's historical close relationship with the US would no longer apply.

Its report noted that Britain still has "strategic dependencies on the United States for core capabilities in nuclear, intelligence and conventional defence".

Britain should "plan to move away from a bilateral relationship with the United States that is so dependent" on America for nuclear and intelligence operations, the report argued in a major intervention, arguing for an "independent UK nuclear deterrent".