§ Q2. Mr. Zilliacusasked the Prime Minister what agreement he has reached with President Johnson on a joint Anglo-American policy to preserve peace by maintaining nuclear superiority over the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
§ Q8. Mr. Emrys Hughesasked the Prime Minister what agreement he has reached with the President of the United States of America on a joint Anglo-American policy to preserve peace by securing nuclear superiority over Russia.
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentlemen's summary of Anglo-American policy is oversimplified and even misleading. Our agreement was most recently set out in the joint communiqué issued after my talks with President Johnson in February, and circulated in the OFFICIAL REPORT on 18th February.
§ Mr. ZilliacusDoes not the Prime Minister recall that in his speech during the weekend of 1st June he announced that in order to maintain peace it was necessary to preserve Anglo-American superiority in nuclear weapons? Is that the right hon. Gentleman's own unilateral doctrine? If so, how is it proposed to achieve it? Secondly, how does he propose to get the Soviet Union to agree, in a disarmament treaty, to accept the superiority of the West in nuclear weapons?
§ The Prime MinisterWhat happens at the disarmament conference is to work out balanced arrangements with the Soviet Union. That is what we are trying to get.
§ Mr. HughesAs the Prime Minister told us last week that it is nuclear balance of power that keeps the peace, does he think that Russian possession of the atomic bomb has contributed to the maintenance of peace? Will he explain that to the Chinese when they say they want an independent nuclear deterrent to get them to the conference table?
§ The Prime MinisterThere is no need to explain to the Chinese. The Chinese are in process of acquiring a nuclear weapon at some time—I do not know when. But we have now reached the point where there is, I think, a nuclear power that each side recognises could do unacceptable damage to the other. The sensible thing then is to get together at Geneva to try to strike a balance which is agreed.
§ Mr. LubbockDoes the Prime Minister think that the possession of nuclear weapons by the Chinese will enable them to have a seat at the conference table, and what arguments would he use with the Chinese to persuade them not to develop nuclear weapons if that is the result of possessing them?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentleman, if he does not mind my saying so, should read the American and United Kingdom disarmament plans which make provision for a seat at the conference table for the Chinese.
§ Mr. M. FootDoes the Prime Minister think that his continued insistence that nuclear weapons have kept the peace 226 encourages people to believe that he is sincere in wanting to get rid of them?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, Sir. I see no inconsistency between the two attitudes. I think that almost everybody recognises that it is the nuclear balance which has kept the peace. The question is whether we can achieve that balance at a. lower level.