§ 48. Mr. Wyattasked the Prime Minister whether he will now make a statement as to the future of the 280 rifle following on his discussions with the United States Government in January of this year.
§ The Prime MinisterThere has been no change in the development plan since the statement by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Defence on 23rd July.
§ Mr. WyattCan the Prime Minister confirm that the report which appeared in the "Daily Telegraph" on Saturday that this rifle had been abandoned was quite untrue? Can he further say what stage of development has now been reached in production of the 280 rifle?
§ The Prime MinisterWe still think that the 280 rifle is the best, and we have not in any way given up research and development on it. But whether the rifle is the best does not settle the question. The question is the uniformity of weapons 1864 over a large area to the N.A.T.O. organisation, and on that many questions remain unsettled as to achieving complete agreement.
§ Mr. ShinwellIs the Prime Minister not aware that quite recently discussions on this subject were taking place at Quebec under the auspices of N.A.T.O. and that, presumably, some conclusion will be reached? Will he give an assurance that British military authorities and the British Government will not yield to American pressure in this matter?
§ The Prime MinisterIt is not so much a question of not yielding to American pressure as of finding an effective means of re-arming with a weapon of common ammunition the great numbers of individuals who may potentially be called into being under the authority of N.A.T.O.
§ Mr. ShinwellWill the Prime Minister see that no British soldier in an emergency, which I hope will never occur—I am speaking of another war—should be deprived of what even the right hon. Gentleman himself regards as the best weapon?
§ The Prime MinisterI have tried several times to explain this to the right hon. Gentleman. For a comparatively small part of the line of the front to be armed with one particular type of weapon while all the others have different ammunition and different weapons might not be the best way of solving it. Moreover, if the British tried to re-arm alone with a rifle they chose by themselves separately it would take very many years before any effective re-armament of even our front line would be effected.
§ Mr. WyattCan the Prime Minister say how long he is prepared to go on with the discussions on this matter before we go ahead with a large-scale programme of making this rifle ourselves? Has he further considered that it would be possible to have a considerable export trade in this rifle if we had to develop it by ourselves?
§ The Prime MinisterI have always thought that the 280 might be useful for special tasks, such as for paratroops and so forth, and we have certainly not abandoned our belief that it is the best weapon yet achieved. But that is quite a different question from undertaking to equip the 1865 British Army with a weapon entirely different from that of all other nations with which we have bound ourselves by ever strengthening ties.