Gordon Brown is set to tell the UN that the UK will consider reducing its Trident submarines from four to three.

Reports out today suggest that Gordon Brown is set to announce he is willing to withdraw one of the UK’s four Trident nuclear submarines, in order to help offset growing deficit in public finances.

The Prime Minister will tell the United Nations (UN) at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday (24 September) that all nations need to come together to fulfil the long-term ambition of a nuclear-free world. He’s likely to say: “If we are serious about the ambition of a nuclear-free world we will need statesmanship, not brinkmanship.”

According to estimates, the UK is behind the US, Russia, France and China in terms of its proliferation of nuclear warheads, and it is these countries which Mr Brown will be lobbying to reduce their numbers.

Professor Ron Smith, a Defence Economist at Birkbeck College told the BBC that the reduction in submarines would have little effect on Britain’s nuclear capability and in terms of cost-savings, it would be minimal.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) welcomes news of the cut. Kate Hudson, Chair of CND, said: “A reduction in the planned system is a serious and positive first step towards the scrapping of both the current Trident nuclear weapons system and its replacement. This will support the current global initiatives towards the elimination of all nuclear weapons, led by President Obama and backed by leaders and nations around the world.”

However, Ms Hudson stressed that this step doesn’t go far enough: “The cuts cannot stop here. Opinion polls are consistently showing a majority of the public oppose Trident replacement.

“By failing to disarm, we encourage proliferation and put ourselves – and the whole world – at greater risk.”

Environmental activist group Greenpeace is campaigning hard for a complete scrappage of the Trident project and claims that a public poll says that 58% of people would rather see the money spent on key public services.

Using government figures, the charity says the costs of the Trident project at around £97 billion, instead of the £15 – 20bn it claims.

Prime Minister Brown has had surprising support from Shadow Defence Secretary, Liam Fox. He said that it was “reasonable and sensible” to consider reducing the number of submarines.

He told the BBC: “If we can maintain our nuclear deterrent and make a contribution to disarmament that’s all very well but the Prime Minister is not planning to reduce the number of warheads from 160…. merely to have them in fewer submarines.”