Surface-to-Surface Missile (Hansard, 10 February 1960)

§ 10. Mr. Warbey
asked the Minister of Defence whether the characteristics of the surface-to-surface missile, which is to be developed jointly by the United Kingdom and the German Federal Republic, have yet been approved by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

§ Mr. Watkinson
No, Sir.

§ Mr. Warbey
Can the right hon. Gentleman confirm that the missile is designed to have a range of 80 to 100 miles? Also, as development is pointless unless it can ultimately lead to production, why are the Government encouraging the West German Government 438 to develop weapons which are forbidden under the Brussels Treaty?

§ Mr. Watkinson
No doubt the hon. Gentleman can raise this matter in the debate later today, and I shall be very happy to answer him if he does.

§ Mr. G. Brown
Will the right hon. Gentleman tell us in what year he expects the missile to be in service?

§ Mr. Watkinson
No, Sir. I certainly cannot do that because the position, as I have already told the hon. Member for Ashfield (Mr. Warbey), is as follows. The proposal first went to W.E.U., which approved it as a military requirement. As the right hon. Gentleman knows, it then goes to the N.A.T.O. Armaments Committee. That Committee has not yet reached any decision. Therefore, this is not a firm proposition at all and no plans of any kind can or could be made until the N.A.T.O. decision has been reached.

§ Mr. Brown
Therefore, on the whole this is in the realm of Disneyland?

§ Mr. Watkinson
I would not say that it is in the realm of Disneyland. I would say that it is in the realm of N.A.T.O. I hope that the right hon. Gentleman does not equate the two.

§ Mr. Warbey
Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether or not the missile is of a design which is outside the limits laid down in the Brussels Treaty?

§ Mr. Watkinson
That is another question.

§ 11. Mr. Warbey
asked the Minister of Defence what arrangements are contemplated for the supply of nuclear warheads for the surface-to-surface missile which is to be developed jointly by the United Kingdom and the German Federal Republic.

§ Mr. Watkinson
As I informed the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Mr. Swingler) on 9th December last, any nuclear warheads required for missiles in service with the West German forces would be held in the N.A.T.O. atomic stockpile under the direct control of SACEUR.

§ Mr. Warbey
Does that mean that the right hon. Gentleman is, in effect, confirming that this is a missile designed for use with nuclear warheads and that, 439 therefore, indirectly the Government are in this case helping to encourage the West German Government to develop missiles for use in nuclear warfare?

§ Mr. Watkinson
The answer to the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question is the one that I have already given, and that is that any nuclear warheads required for missiles are held under this very strict control, the personal control of SACEUR in the N.A.T.O. atomic stockpile.

§ Mr. G. Brown
I understood from an Answer that the right hon. Gentleman gave just now that the missile did not exist, that it was no more than somebody's idea and that nobody had any idea when and if it will arrive. How can we be discussing the practical arrangements for dealing with it in such circumstances?

§ Mr. Watkinson
On the whole, I agree with the right hon. Gentleman that the Question was quite unnecessary in the circumstances.

§ Mr. Brown
No; it was the Minister—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. I have to assert myself if we are to make progress.

§ Mr. Brown
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. By all means rule me out of order, Sir, if you will, but I ask now for your advice because I do not know what to do. The Minister—not the Opposition—was responsible for the announcement that the missile was a reality. We are now seeking to find out from him how much it means. He says it means nothing at all and that it does not exist. How can we in this situation be protected and be enabled to bring to the fore the absurdity of my hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Mr. Warbey) being worried about an announcement by the Minister about a missile that does not exist and then your stopping me from putting the supplementary question which is designed to draw an admission from the Minister?

§ Mr. Speaker
I am afraid that it is difficult always to be right. I have to estimate what run a certain topic can be given in the time available. If I remember rightly, the Minister's last answer was that, in his view, the Question was premature because of the not far advanced state of the weapon.