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Jeremy Corbyn Goes To War With General Sir Nicholas Houghton

Jeremy Corbyn Goes To War With Sir Nicholas Houghton

Cover picture: Rory Lewis

When it comes political argument, it’s generally accepted that the military don’t meddle. But an argument’s broken out about just how much say senior members of the armed forces should have about issues that directly affect them.

The Labour leader does not approve of nuclear weapons. Were he ever to become Prime Minister, Jeremy Corbyn has said he would never press the nuclear button.

Now Britain’s most senior military officer has said that taking such a position undermines the UK’s nuclear deterrent.

At the weekend General Sir Nicholas Houghton told the BBC that "It would worry me if that thought was translated into power.

"The reason I say this - and it's not based on a personal thing at all - is purely based upon the credibility of deterrence. The whole thing of deterrence rests upon the credibility of its use."

"When people say they're never going to use the deterrent, I say you use the deterrent every second of every minute of every day - the purpose of the deterrent is you don't have to use it because you effectively deter.

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"Most of the politicians I know understand that and I think, dare I say, the responsibility of power is probably quite a sobering thing and you come to a realisation 'I understand how this thing works'.

It’s prompted Mr Corbyn to accuse the Chief of the Defence Staff of crossing the line. He says he’s going to write to the Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, to complain about what he believes to be a breach of a constitutional principle.

Mr Corbyn’s complaint has once again showed that within Labour itself, there is still disagreement about what the party’s position on nuclear weapons should be. The Shadow defence Secretary Maria Eagle has said agreed with what General Houghton had said and that she’s still not fixed a date to discuss Trident with Mr Corbyn.

But were General Houghton's comments skilfully placed or a simple error of judgment? The defence analyst Christopher Lee has told Forces TV that when someone gets to be the Chief of the Defence Staff, “you don’t expect him to make those mistakes”. He warned however that:

“People have seized upon [the General’s comments] and they've turned it into something that it really isn't.

“Jeremy Corbyn is not Prime Minister. He hasn’t been in government and so nobody knows exactly what his position will be if he ever got to be PM"

This of course isn’t the first time that senior members of the military have spoken their minds. In 2006, Lord Dannatt had been Chief of the General Staff for just two months when he when he suggested that Britain should withdraw from parts of Iraq.

Lord Dannat also fought for more money for troops - he once compared a private's income could be compared with a traffic warden's. At the time, soldiers praised Lord Dannatt for speaking up for them.

The MOD has said it won't comment further on what General Houghton said. It's also said it’ll wait for Mr Corbyn’s complaint to arrive.