§ 13. Mr. Shinwellasked the Minister of Defence what decision has been made by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation about the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Nuclear Authority.
§ Mr. ShinwellIs not the right hon. Gentleman aware of the pressure exerted by Herr Strauss, the Federal German Minister of Defence, on General Norstad and N.A.T.O. for the purpose 425 of creating this authority so that the West German Government can gain control of nuclear weapons? Is not the right hon. Gentleman aware of that? Does he not read the newspapers? Is he not aware of what goes on in N.A.T.O.?
§ Mr. AmeryUnder Protocol 3 of the Brussels Treaty of 1954 the Federal Republic undertook not to manufacture nuclear weapons in their territory. I know of no proposals to vary this undertaking. As to control, no proposals have been made for the distribution of nuclear weapons systems to the Federal Army except under conditions where SACEUR would obtain control and where the United States personnel would have the final custodianship of the weapons.
§ Mr. ShinwellHerr Strauss has explicitly stated that he wants not only the provision of nuclear weapons made by N.A.T.O., perhaps from American sources, but that he also wants complete control of the warheads. Will the right hon. Gentleman make inquiries to ascertain what our representative at N.A.T.O. is doing about it?
§ Mr. AmeryWhen we received the right hon. Gentleman's Question we of course made inquiries, but we are not aware of the facts that he has stated.
§ Mr. ShinwellComplete evasion.