HC Deb 23 January 1958 vol 580 cc1254-6
56. Mr. de Freitas

asked the Prime Minister what special training instructions in the rendering safe of airborne nuclear weapons have been given to the appropriate Service and civilian first-aid and Civil Defence units in areas of the country which are flown over by Royal Air Force and United States aircraft carrying nuclear weapons.

Mr. R. A. Butler

I have been asked to reply.

The Prime Minister has already said that these weapons are at all times in a safe, that is, unarmed, condition while they are being carried over this country. The Service and civil authorities have standard instructions on action to be taken in relation to crashed' aircraft. These instructions are kept continually under review and will be added to or amended if and when considered necessary.

Mr. de Freitas

Will the right hon. Gentleman please look at this again as there is considerable criticism not only in the Air Force but also in Civil Defence circles on this very point, the lack of training instructions for the rendering safe of airborne nuclear weapons in aircraft which have crashed? Will he look at this again?

Mr. Butler

I will certainly keep it under review and see that my right hon. Friends principally concerned have it under review, but I have given an answer which represents the position at present.

Mr. Bevan

Can these weapons be activated in the air? In other words, can they be put into the position of being exploded by aircrews in the air?

Mr. Butler

I can only repeat what the Prime Minister has said, that these weapons are at all times in an unarmed condition while they are being carried over this country.

Mr. Bevan

I am sorry, but that is not the answer to my question. If these weapons cannot be put in the position of being exploded by the aircrews themselves, why are they carried? If they can be put in the position of being exploded, then the Prime Minister is deceiving the country.

Mr. Butler

It is quite unnecessary for the right hon. Gentleman to make remarks such as he has just made about the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has given the House the information in his possession of what is happening. I will undertake to give an answer on the specific point raised by the right hon. Gentleman if he will give me notice, but with the information at my disposal I can go no further than the answer I have given.

Mr. Bevan

With all respect, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman again? The whole question here is whether there are, bombers on patrol duty carrying hydrogen bombs which can be detonated or fused, or whatever may be the scientific term. I use the general term "activated", which seems to me correct.

Mr. Grant-Ferris

No, it is not.

Mr. Bevan

Then let the hon. Member use the right term. The hon. Member is well-known for his scientific precision. Will the Leader of the House answer one very simple question? If these weapons are not, in the sense of the ordinary layman, alive, why are they carried? If, in fact, they can be activated by the aircrews in the air, then the Prime Minister's answer grossly deceives the country.

Mr. Butler

I have already said that the right hon. Gentleman has no business to make remarks like that about the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has already stated that these weapons are at all times in a safe, that is, an unarmed, condition. The reason for their being carried is presumably for operational practice, and on the question of whether they can be fused or put together in the air, I have already offered the right hon. Gentleman that if he will put a Question on the Order Paper I will answer it.