The Labour Party Defence Study Group was a grouping within the British Labour Party established in 1975 by the party's

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

(NEC) under the chairmanship of

Ian Mikardo Ian Mikardo (9 July 1908 – 6 May 1993), commonly known as Mik, was a British Labour Member of Parliament. An ardent socialist and a Zionist, he remained a backbencher throughout his four decades in the House of Commons. He was a member of Nati ...

History

The party was established at a time when Britain's defence policy was being increasingly criticised by anti-

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

activists who had recently been elected to the NEC. The final report of the group ''Sense About Defence'', was produced as a booklet in September 1977. It advocated a more

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

view of Britain's defence policy, including: a reduction in nuclear bases and weapons, saying that no more should be commissioned, and argued for a reduction in Britain's military expenditure. However, it was ignored by the Labour government, which adopted a policy more pleasing to the centre-right of the party. By the 1980s, the party was more aligned with

peace movement A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peac ...

s in Britain. In 1981, the NEC drew up a policy which pledged Labour to the closing down of American and British bases on British soil, refusing to accept

Cruise missiles A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead ...

, Polaris and Trident, and

unilateral nuclear disarmament __NOTOC__ Unilateralism is any doctrine or agenda that supports one-sided action. Such action may be in disregard for other parties, or as an expression of a commitment toward a direction which other parties may find disagreeable. As a word, ''un ...

. The statement was carried in that year's conference, and the party asked the Defence Study Group (which at that time included

Robin Cook Robert Finlayson "Robin" Cook (28 February 19466 August 2005) was a British Labour politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 until his death in 2005 and served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 until 2001 whe ...

Mary Kaldor Mary Henrietta Kaldor (born 16 March 1946) is a British academic, currently Professor of Global Governance at the London School of Economics, where she is also the Director of the Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit. She also teaches ...

Clive Soley Clive Stafford Soley, Baron Soley (born 7 May 1939) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2005, and has since then served as a Member of the House of Lords. Early life He w ...

and

Mike Gapes Michael John Gapes (born 4 September 1952) is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019. Born in Wanstead Hospital, Gapes attended Buckhurst Hill County High School. He studied eco ...

) to produce an interim report which reaffirmed Labour's unilateralism, saying "British possession of strategic nuclear weapons has given no leverage to promote

nuclear disarmament Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the Atomic nucleus, nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear ...

", and emphasised the need for conventional forces. The group also discussed issues such as limiting job losses which would occur while limiting the arms trade.LPDSG (March 1983). ''Defence Industry Conversion and Economic Planning''
Quoted in Vickers, 2011, p. 156

References

{{reflist Labour Party (UK) Anti–nuclear weapons movement Organizations established in 1975