HC Deb 03 April 1963 vol 675 c430
12. Mr. Harold Davies

asked the Minister of Defence if he will define a tactical nuclear weapon.

Mr. Thorneycroft

One that is directed at a tactical target.

Mr. Davies

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that when General Sir Richard Gale was acting as chairman of a series of responsible lectures on strategic concepts he himself said that, when he was deputy allied leader in Europe, he tried to get a definition of a tactical nuclear weapon and— Neither from my own country, nor from the United States of America, did I get any

Hon. Members

Reading.

Mr. Speaker

Order. Verbatim quotations from such sources are out of order in questions.

Mr. Davies

It was not a quotation direct, Mr. Speaker. I omitted many of the words. Does the Minister now think that he has helped the general in defining a tactical weapon in those absurd words?

Mr. Thorneycroft

I have made a fairly brief contribution to the point.

Mr. M. Foot

Have we got any, and do they work?

Mr. Thorneycroft

Yes, we have a fairly voluminous supply of tactical nuclear weapons.

Mr. P. Noel-Baker

Does the Minister agree that the use of the word "tactical" about any nuclear weapon of the 10 kiloton or larger range, which is what we have, is very dangerous and self-deceiving?

Mr. Thorneycroft

I have some sympathy with that point of view. I think that it is quite erroneous to talk about tactical weapons as though they were some sort of modern artillery. These are weapons of really devastating power.