HC Deb 15 February 1966 vol 724 cc1105-7
Q3. Mr. Blaker

asked the Prime Minister what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government regarding inter-nationalisation of all Great Britain's military aircraft capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

Q4. Mr. Marten

asked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement about the defence talks in Washington at the end of January in so far as they concern the internationalising of Great Britain's nuclear deterrent outside the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation area.

The Prime Minister

I have described our policy on internationalising our nuclear weapon systems on a number of occasions and have nothing to add now.

Mr. Blaker

Is the Prime Minister aware that when he first described the A.N.F. proposal to the House he said that it would not include bombers required to meet commitments outside the N.A.T.O. area, but on 25th January of this year he gave the impression that all our bombers would be internationalised? How does he reconcile those two statements?

The Prime Minister

Obviously the Atlantic Nuclear Force, which would normally be expected to relate to the Atlantic, would not refer to bombers in areas other than the Atlantic. That was made clear in December, 1964. It was in December, 1964, that I said that they would need to be internationalised, too.

Mr. Marten

Would the Prime Minister elaborate what he has already said by telling the House with whom he proposes to internationalise such of our deterrent force as is outside the N.A.T.O. area?

The Prime Minister

With those allies who are relevant. I would ask the hon. Gentleman to await the Defence White Paper to find out a little more.

Mr. Zilliacus

Will the Prime Minister give an assurance that when visiting Moscow he will not jeopardise the chances of a non-proliferation agreement by insisting upon the inclusion of Germany in an international nuclear force of any capacity?

The Prime Minister

When I visit Moscow I shall stick to the position explained by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary in the House and in New York so far as proliferation is concerned.

Mr. Heath

As the Prime Minister told us a fortnight ago that if the Government were to purchase the F111 they would also be internationalised, can he now tell the House what decision the Government have reached on the purchase of the F111?

The Prime Minister

The right hon. Gentleman will no doubt await the publication of the Defence White Paper. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] Certainly. The Government have carried through a very big defence review. We have faced up to the issue that right hon. Members opposite fluffed year after year.

Mr. Heath

As every newspaper today is full of what purports to be the Government's decision, and as the Secretary of State for Defence is apparently leaving for Washington tomorrow to inform the Americans of the Government's decisions, why should not the Prime Minister tell the House of Commons now?

The Prime Minister

If the right hon. Gentleman believes everything he has read in this morning's newspapers, including long accounts of Cabinet meetings which I did not attend—perhaps they took place elsewhere—[HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."]—I attended the real Cabinet, not the one the right hon. Gentleman has been talking about and reading about in the newspapers. I would advise the right hon. Gentleman to wait for the White Paper, which is the usual tradition and which was the tradition followed by the last Government. He will then have full facilities to debate it.