March 24, 2025 (EIRNS)—U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, ahead of a visit last week to Barrow-in-Furness, where British nuclear submarines are built, declared that Putin is afraid of Britain’s nuclear arsenal. “I think they appreciate our capability. What is obviously important is that they appreciate that it is what it is, which is a credible capability,” he said, reported The Independent. He agreed that it is right for Putin to respect Britain’s nuclear deterrent, adding: “And that’s why the U.K. is within Europe as one of the leading nations on defence and security, because we’ve got our independent deterrent and we’re committed to NATO.”
Referring to Britain’s fleet of Vanguard-class nuclear ballistic missile submarines, one of which he later visited and boarded, Starmer said: “It has been an incredibly effective deterrent for decades and we must not take that for granted. Which is why it’s good that we’re going to the Dreadnought class. The last few years and certainly the last few months have been a reminder, across the country and across Europe, how important that first duty of defence and security really is.”
Starmer’s visit to the submarine was rare, and had not been done by a prime minister since David Cameron in 2013. The event was carefully-publicized, and Downing Street released a video of Starmer boarding and touring the vessel, and commenting about the vessel being a key part of Britain’s “nuclear deterrent.”
At the same time, The Telegraph interviewed Rear Admiral Chris Parry, who served in the Royal Navy for 37 years from 1972 to 2008, who clearly wanted to threaten Russia. “One Trident submarine has the ability to incinerate 40 Russian cities very quickly. That is a lot of food for thought for Putin and that should make any world leader fearful,” he tells The Telegraph.
“Putin knows what Trident submarines can deliver and that is something he has to factor into all of his calculations when he is provoking the West,” says Rear Admiral Parry. “Russian air defence systems are not that great. Russia is also the largest country on Earth—it is impossible to defend against a ballistic missile attack.”
