HC Deb 15 June 1954 vol 528 cc1731-2
45. Mr. T. Reid

asked the Prime Minister what plans have been made by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Powers to provide for alternative administration in any allied country or countries where the area of the central government was devastated by atom and hydrogen bombs launched in a sudden and treacherous Pearl Harbour style of attack which paralysed the central government.

The Prime Minister (Sir Winston Churchill)

Many more problems have arisen from the creation of the hydrogen bomb than have yet been effectively solved by the N.A.T.O. Powers or by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. All aspects of these problems are under constant and intense study by the Departments concerned and by the Chiefs of Staff, and they are one of the main preoccupations of Her Majesty's Government. The same is no doubt true of all the other members of N.A.T.O. The actual precautions against such an emergency are of course the responsibility of national governments, but this does not mean that the collective thought of N.A.T.O. is not also devoted to them.