§ Q2. Mr. Blakerasked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement about the progress of negotiations for the establishment of an Atlantic Nuclear Force.
§ Q3. Mr. Martenasked the Prime Minister what progress has been made in the last year in the negotiations for an Atlantic Nuclear Force.
§ Q9. Mr. Rankinasked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the steps he is taking to internationalise the British nuclear deterrent.
§ The Prime MinisterHer Majesty's Government's proposals for an Atlantic Nuclear Force are under discussion among interested members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in the Paris Working Group.
§ Mr. BlakerThe Prime Minister is no doubt aware that his right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary gave a Press conference in New York on 7th October in which he cast doubt, to say the least, on the Government's degree of support for the A.N.F. Does this mean that the Government are adopting a new line of policy, and were our allies, including the Germans, consulted before the Foreign Secretary made his remarks?
§ The Prime MinisterMy right hon. Friend made a very good statement in New York. He was not casting doubt 1228 at all on what we have said but he indicated some considerations which should be in everyone's mind, including those of our allies, when this is discussed on an inter-allied basis.
§ Mr. MartenWhat has been the German reaction to the Foreign Secretary's speech in New York? Will the Prime Minister give an assurance that in this proposed rediscussion and rethinking of this policy no steps will be taken which will tend to increase pressures within Germany for her to become an independent nuclear Power?
§ The Prime MinisterWe have always stressed the need to do nothing to increase these pressures and to resist any pressures which might develop. This should be discussed on an inter-allied basis, and that is what we are doing.
§ Mr. RankinIs it not the case that at the end of the war Germany resigned her claim to the nuclear deterrent? Will my right hon. Friend keep that in mind in his attempts to prevent the proliferation of the nuclear deterrent?
§ The Prime MinisterIn 1954 the Germans signed an agreement that they would not manufacture the nuclear deterrent. One of the main purposes of our diplomacy—and this has been very much to the forefront in the Geneva talks this year—is to ensure a non-proliferation agreement so that neither Germany nor anyone else not in possession of nuclear weapons will in fact get them.
§ Mr. HeathIs it not true that the Foreign Secretary said in New York of the A.N.F. as well as of the M.L.F., "I think we have now got to look at this matter afresh"? Would the Prime Minister tell us exactly what he meant by this statement, because he was arguing that it must be looked at afresh in the light of a non-dissemination agreement. Is it not correct that the Prime Minister has always maintained that A.N.F. was compatible with a non-dissemination agreement? Has he now abandoned that position? Would it not be better to maintain the position that it is compatible in the same way—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Even the Leader of the Opposition must be short in his supplementary questions.
§ The Prime MinisterAs the right hon. Gentleman well knows, I have never understood what was the position of the Opposition on M.L.F. My right hon. Friend made it clear, as we always have, that A.N.F. is compatible, and in our discussions we are proceeding on the basis that something needs to be done in N.A.T.O. My right hon. Friend has emphasised the need to get a nonproliferation agreement. That is why we have to discuss this with our allies.