§ 8. Mr. G. Campbellasked the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the development of the nuclear deterrent, or a further generation of nuclear weapons; and if he will make a statement.
§ 49. Mr. Iremongerasked the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is takng to promote research and development calculated to provide the United Kingdom with nuclear weapons of the next generation after the Polaris missile becomes obsolete.
§ Mr. HealeyI have nothing to add to what my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, South (Mr. Winnick) on 13th June about the Government's policy in respect of a new generation of nuclear weapons; or to my reply to the right hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South West (Mr. Powell) on 1st March about the possibility of further development of Polaris.—[Vol. 742, c. 299; Vol. 748, c. 484–5.]
§ Mr. CampbellAre the Government satisfied that the present tactical nuclear weapons available to the British Army are up to date and will not need replacement before long?
§ Mr. HealeyWith respect, there is a Question on this matter later on the Order Paper.
§ Mr. PowellIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that we on this side of the House note with great satisfaction the terms of his reply to me and the extremely limited and guarded character of the Prime Minister's reply, to which he referred?
§ Mr. HealeyI note everything which indicates agreement by the right hon. Gentleman with his own right hon. and hon. Friends with the greatest satisfaction.
§ Later—
§ Mr. CampbellOn a point of order. You will recall, Mr. Speaker, that the Secretary of State for Defence based his reasons for not replying to my supplementary question on my Question No. 8 on Parliamentary procedure; namely, that the question I had asked was already on the Order Paper. As it is impossible to identify any such Question on today's Order Paper, could the Secretary of State be asked to indicate the number of the Question which he thought prevented him from replying? There is only one Question on the subject—unstarred Written Question No. 15—which is quite different from the one I put?
§ Mr. HealeyI apologise to the hon. Gentleman. This Question was down for Oral Answer but was changed in the last 24 hours to a Question for Written Answer. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] The hon. Gentleman will read the Written 1796 Answer to that Written Question in tomorrow's OFFICIAL REPORT. The question which he raised was on a totally different matter, totally different from the one which he had put down for Oral Answer.
§ Sir T. BeamishFurther to my hon. Friend's point of order. In view of the fact that the right hon. Gentleman made a genuine mistake, does not he feel that he should now reply to my hon. Friend's supplementary question?
§ Mr. HealeyIf you will allow the hon. Member for Moray and Nairn (Mr. G. Campbell) to remind me of the precise nature of his supplementary question, Mr. Speaker, I will do my best to answer it.
§ Mr. SpeakerSo be it.
§ Mr. CampbellI asked whether the Government were satisfied that the nuclear tactical weapons available to the British Army were up to date and would not need to be modernised before long.
§ Mr. HealeyYes, Sir. I am perfectly satisfied that the weapons we now have are up to date. Of course, when they become obsolete, we will require to replace them.
§ Mr. CampbellOn a point of order. May I thank you, Mr. Speaker, for your good offices in allowing this question to be put?
§ Mr. SpeakerI think that the hon. Gentleman's thanks are due to the Minister, who attempted to retrieve his error.
§ Mr. HealeyI wish to express my gratitude, too.