ABSTRACT
The constraints of official secrecy have set the terms of debate about British nuclear weapons in the public domain; only when secrecy is rolled back can informed discussion about Britain’s nuclear policies proceed. The chapter begins by asking what is nuclear secrecy, how has it manifested itself in the British nuclear experience and what has driven it? It outlines how the British nuclear programme has manifested itself in public in the first two decades, discussing what has shaped the disclosure of information by respective governments. It also considers the limited justifications for Britain’s possession of nuclear weapons that have been made in public. The chapter shows how public discussion of nuclear weapons from the late 1950s placed only limited pressure on the government to justify its nuclear policies. It concludes by providing context to the political divisions on nuclear weapons in the Labour Party, and how concerns over exacerbating them drove compromise, ambiguity and near-silence on nuclear issues by the 1970s.
