§ 5. Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will instruct the British representative at the disarmament talks to propose that the existing nuclear Powers should undertake not to release nuclear weapons to other nations.
§ Mr. Selwyn LloydI have little to add to the Answer given on 27th June to the hon. Member for Dunfermline Burghs (Dr. A. Thompson). If, as we still hope, disarmament discussions can be resumed, this subject is likely to come up then.
§ Mr. AllaunFollowing the breakdown of the talks, will the Government make this proposal to the other nuclear Powers? In particular, does the Foreign Secretary approve of the recent statement by General Norstad that tactical nuclear weapons should be given to Norway?
§ Mr. LloydI do not think there is any question of giving nuclear warheads to any of the N.A.T.O. countries. We are, of course, against the spread of nuclear weapons in that sense.
§ 6. Mr. Swinglerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in view of the dangers of war or nuclear explosions arising from accidents, miscalculations, or muddles, if he will propose to the Governments of the Powers possessing 1360 nuclear weapons a temporary international agreement to discontinue patrol flights of aeroplanes carrying nuclear weapons, pending the conclusion of a disarmament treaty.
§ Mr. Selwyn LloydNo, Sir. The dangers mentioned can only be dealt with effectively by an international agreement on general and comprehensive disarmament under effective control, such as we have been trying to secure at Geneva.
§ Mr. SwinglerWould not the Foreign Secretary agree that the conduct by both sides of patrol flights by planes carrying nuclear weapons is itself a source of anxiety and tension? Would it not be a moderate step towards some relaxation of tension to try to get an international agreement to stop these flights?
§ Mr. LloydThe difficulty about it is that I do not think it would be possible to have any control of such an agreement and also it would leave the long-range missiles completely unaffected.
§ Mr. PagetDoes the Foreign Secretary really think that it would add to our safety to agree that all our aeroplanes should remain as sitting ducks on aerodromes?
§ Mr. P. Noel-BakerWould the Foreign Secretary consider letting the House have a study of the danger of accident with these new weapons? Does he not agree that Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, who made the first atomic bomb, said in Berlin two weeks ago that the new weapons developing were now adding chance to anger as a possible cause of war?
§ Mr. LloydI should have to consider whether a study could or should be made, and whether it would be useful to disclose its result.
§ Mr. SwinglerWould not the Foreign Secretary agree that if everybody's planes on both sides were "sitting ducks", they would all be in the same case and the world would be a lot safer?