Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system has been given a strong vote of confidence by MPs after they backed renewing the deterrent.
The decisive result - by 472 votes to 117 - was returned in support of a British government motion, which also included backing the plan to replace the existing submarine fleet carrying the missiles with four new Successor submarines.
Renewal of the deterrent is predicted to cost £31 billion, with a £10 billion contingency fund also set aside.
Free vote
Labour MPs were subject to a free vote, with leader Jeremy Corbyn declaring he would oppose the motion - a stance which led to strong criticism from some of his backbenchers.
The SNP, the third largest party in the Commons with 54 MPs, also opposed the government’s plan.
PA