HC Deb 28 March 1963 vol 674 cc1535-6
Q3. Mr. Zilliacus

asked the Prime Minister whether the agreement he concluded with President Kennedy at Nassau about the formation of a multinational nuclear force in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation provides for incorporating his agreement with the President that neither will decide to resort to nuclear weapons anywhere in the world without first consulting the other, in the proposed international system of control over the use of this force.

Mr. R. A. Butler

I have been asked to reply.

My right hon. Friend's arrangements with President Kennedy for consultation about the use of nuclear weapons are not affected by the Nassau Agreement. Arrangements for control over the proposed North Atlantic Treaty Organisation nuclear force remain to be worked out by the North Atlantic Council.

Mr. Zilliacus

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that reply. Can he elucidate the matter a little further by saying whether his Answer means—as I believe it does—that even if and when the international control proposals which are being discussed are worked out, if ever, thanks to General de Gaulle, they will leave entirely unaffected the use by the United States Administration of its own nuclear forces? Will the United States Administration remain as unfettered as it is today, or as it was at the time of Cuba?

Mr. Butler

I cannot answer for the United States Administration, but I can say that the understanding reached between my right hon. Friend and the President of the United States will prevail. If there are any doubts about this matter, the whole subject is to be discussed in May, at the next meeting of the N.A.T.O. Council.

Mr. Grimond

If the Government were one of the supporters of this move to have N.A.T.O. nuclear weapons, is it not curious that they apparently have no proposals of their own as to how those weapons are to be controlled? Would it not be better to have some agreement about political and diplomatic consultations in N.A.T.O. before we begin running this hare of N.A.T.O. nuclear weapons, about which we apparently have no clear idea, and for the control of which we have no proposals?

Mr. Butler

The right hon. Gentleman was present when my right hon. Friend the Lord Privy Seal made a statement on this matter on 26th March. We then discussed and described what sort of control there might be, in relation to the future discussion which is to take place in May. This indicates that Her Majesty's Government have ideas on this matter and will put them forward at the N.A.T.O. meeting.

Mr. Rankin

In view of the fact that this N.A.T.O. nuclear force has to consist of many nations, would it not be fair to consider all the nations in the force, rather than just two of them?

Mr. Butler

Yes, certainly. There is the multinational force to consider, with all the complications of the mixed-manned force, or the multilateral force, as it is sometimes called.