Britain could be target for Kim’s nuclear missiles, warns Fallon

BRITAIN could be a target in any nuclear conflict with North Korea, the Defence Secretary suggested yesterday.

Sir Michael Fallon warned the risk of war was ‘extremely great’ and could be triggered by a simple ‘miscalculation’ or ‘accident’. He pointed out that London lies closer to Pyongyang’s range than Los Angeles, although Korean dictator Kim Jong-un does not ‘yet’ have a missile which could reach this country.

Concerns about the dangers of war in the Pacific have escalated after North Korea appeared to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb last week.

The device, thought to be seven times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, signalled a sharp advancement in its use of nuclear technology. It has also tested several intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).

The Foreign Office is investigating whether current and former nuclear states may have assisted North Korea, with Iran regarded the most likely suspect, followed by Russia.

Appearing on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Sir Michael said he was ‘very concerned at the situation in the Pacific’ and Britain was working ‘flat out’ to find a diplomatic solution. He said: ‘What we have to avoid at all costs is this spilling over into any kind of military conflict.’

But he added: ‘The US is fully entitled to defend its own territory, to defend its bases and to look after its people.

‘But this involves us, London is closer to North Korea and its missiles than Los Angeles.’