§ Q1. Mr. Martenasked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy with regard to the renegotiation of the Nassau Agreement.
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Wilson)I have nothing to add to the reply I gave on 12th May to a similar Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, West (Mr. Dickens).
§ Mr. MartenCould the Prime Minister he quite frank with the House—[HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."]—and say whether he really is still determined to push ahead with the policy of renegotiating the 1548 Nassau Agreement and creating an Atlantic Nuclear Force, or are both these about to be thrown into the boiling pot? What advantage is there in renegotiating the Nassau Agreement except appeasing General de Gaulle or easing his way into the Common Market?
§ The Prime MinisterThat is at least a new point for once. I will respond to the hon. Member and be frank, though, of course, if we get this Question once a week it is no wonder we do not reach other Questions; he keeps asking this, and I answered it the other day, and I have answered it several times. Of course we intend to renegotiate the Nassau Agreement as soon as we have reached agreement with our allies on the basis of settling the nuclear problem within N.A.T.O.
§ Mr. Frank AllaunIs it a fact that the possibility of sending the British Polaris to the Indian Ocean is now being considered? Would not that mean committing British arms—and, indeed, nuclear arms—east of Suez in the 'seventies, which many of us are very eager to prevent?
§ The Prime MinisterNo. There is no such arrangement before us at the present time. We have a problem to solve, as I am sure the whole House realises, and as I have said many times, of how we can give some collectivised nuclear guarantee to nations such as India against the new threat which they are facing, but it does not come under this, and we are not considering it in this way.
§ Lord BalnielDoes not the Prime Minister recollect that as recently as March this year he said that it was the Nassau Agreement which slammed the door on British entry into the Common Market? Does he consider this an impediment to Britain's entering the European Community and, if so, is he intending to renegotiate it?
§ The Prime MinisterI have never looked at this at all in connection with the Common Market.—[HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."]—We have never looked at our approach to nuclear sharing in relation to the Common Market. We regard them as two separate issues. We are committed—and it is right—to seeing whether we can get a collectivised nuclear deterrent within N.A.T.O. Then, of course, the relevant parts of the Nassau Agreement 1549 will have to be renegotiated. This we shall do.
§ Mr. Thomas SteeleWould the Prime Minister say on what basis he proposes to renegotiate the Nassau Agreement, in view of the fact that the Polaris programme itself is half-way completed? What other aspects have to be renegotiated?
§ The Prime MinisterThere are two relevant parts of the Nassau Agreement. One of them was the clause which gave Britain the right, allegedly, to withdraw the deterrent when British interests were considered to be involved. This, we have always made clear, will require renegotiation when we have a collectivised deterrent. That is what we shall do.