The White Paper The Future of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent, published on 4 December, said that we had sought and received a number of assurances of continued and future co-operation from the Government of the United States of America. Those assurances will ensure that future Governments are able, if they wish, to retain an operationally independent nuclear deterrent capability throughout the life of the replacement class of submarines announced in the White Paper.

In the Statement that my right honourable friend the Prime Minister made to the House of Commons on 4 December, he said that those assurances would be set out in an exchange of letters between the President of the United States and him. Copies of the letters have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. Details are also available on the No. 10 website.