LONDON, March 19, 2010 (AFP) - France has offered to create a joint nuclear deterrent with Britain by sharing submarine patrols, but London has so far opposed the idea as politically unacceptable, a newspaper reported Friday.
    Discussions have taken place on how a scheme to share nuclear deterrence might work, said the Guardian newspaper, citing unnamed British and French officials.
    Both countries currently follow a system of "continuous at-sea deterrence," running at least one nuclear-armed submarine which is submerged and undetected at any given time.
    But the system has faced criticism from disarmament campaigners who question its use in a post-Cold War world.
    "We have talked about the idea of sharing continuity at sea as part of a larger discussion about sharing defence burdens," a French official told the paper.
    A British official confirmed the French approach, but said the suggestion would cause "outrage" during an election campaign. Britain's political parties are gearing up for a ballot which is expected to be held on May 6.
    French President Nicholas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown discussed the idea at a London meeting in March 2008, according to the Guardian.
    A joint declaration afterwards said the two countries would "foster our bilateral dialogue on nuclear deterrence."
    The two leaders met again in London last Friday and "discussed some issues on the nuclear agenda", Downing Street told the paper, but refused to say if the joint deterrence idea was included in the talks.