HC Deb 17 December 1968 vol 775 cc1159-60
Q1. Mr. Gordon Campbell

asked the Prime Minister if he will take an opportunity of attending a meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Wilson)

I have no plans to do so at present.

Mr. Campbell

Will the right hon. Gentleman explain to members of N.A.T.O. whatever happened to his proposal for an Atlantic Nuclear Force? Will he also explain the continuing existence of the "so-called British, so-called nuclear so-called deterrent", which is now a major theme of the Government's recruiting advertisements?

The Prime Minister

The hon. Member will know that the proposals for a multilateral force, which were accepted, I think, substantially by his own Government, have been successfully torpedoed over the last year or two, but our proposals for dealing with the collectivisation of the deterrent are, of course, still the subject of disagreement in N.A.T.O.

Mr. Park

Is my right hon. Friend aware that some of us on this side consider that the existence of both N.A.T.O. and the Warsaw Pact makes a permanent and peaceful solution of European problems much more difficult? Will he announce his willingness to enter into discussions with representatives of both Alliances to secure their progressive dismantlement and their replacement with a European security system in which countries from both Western and Eastern Europe can join?

The Prime Minister

Obviously, any sane and civilised man looks forwards to a world in which there are no military blocs of this kind, but the way to reach that situation is not by unilaterally abandoning the Western Alliance. On the question of relations between the two pacts, my hon. Friend will be aware of the fairly lengthy section of the communiqué which I signed with Mr. Kosygin in 1967, but will, I am afraid, agree that recent events do not contribute to an early solution of the problems which we then set out.