Macron plays political games with nuclear weapons: British peer

London [UK], May 10: French President Emmanuel Macron has been accused of "playing little political games with nuclear weapons" by a former Royal Navy top brass.
Labour peer Lord West of Spithead argued that France should allocate its nuclear weapons to NATO, not "some half-baked EU military organisation".
His words came after President Macron opened up the idea of France's nuclear capability, which has always been entirely independent to military alliances, to be part of a "credible European defence".
Lord West, a former Navy chief and then defence minister, said: "Defence of Europe is reliant on NATO, not some half-baked EU military organisation.
"That is why we are safe: because of NATO, let's not fool ourselves. We allocate our nuclear weapons to NATO, which is all under the US nuclear umbrella.
"France, of course, don't, although President Macron in 2022, 2020 as well, and now this year has floated ideas about the French nuclear weapons being allocated to some EU organisation, it's not quite clear what yet.
"In what is now a very perilous time for our continent, with what is going on in Europe, this is not the time to play little political games about nuclear weapons, but to actually focus very carefully on what has been a nuclear umbrella that has been the underpinning of our NATO protection.
"We need to make sure in our discussions with President Macron that he understands this, but in the nicest possible way." Foreign Office minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon responded: "I assure Lord West that we are always nice to President Macron and to our friends across the Channel, but he raises a very vital point; this is a key alliance.
"And that's why, back in 1962, the United Kingdom was very clear of its independent nuclear deterrent and its use in terms of the European security question and for support of the NATO alliance."
Source: Qatar Tribune