Fighter jets purchase would put UK in breach of nuclear treaty, says CND

The UK is buying 12 F-35A fighter jets with the intention of joining Nato’s ‘nuclear mission’. Photograph: Benoît Tessier/Reuters

Britain will violate its nuclear disarmament obligations if Labour presses ahead with the £1bn purchase of 12 F-35A fighter jets, according to a specialist legal opinion prepared on behalf of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).

Two international lawyers argue that the government’s plan to reintroduce air-launched nuclear weapons for the RAF will break a key provision of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) signed by the UK and 190 other countries.