HC Deb 18 December 1974 vol 883 cc1560-2
11. Mr. Robin F. Cook

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he is satisfied with the progress of the Vienna talks on mutual force reductions.

The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Roy Hattersley)

The discussions in Vienna are proceeding steadily and in businesslike fashion. It would be unrealistic to expect early results in a negotiation of such complexity.

Mr. Cook

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that reply, but can he tell the House something of the British attitude to the Dutch proposal to include tactical nuclear weapons in the discussion? Is he aware of growing public unease that a large number of these weapons are deployed in Central Europe? Does he appreciate that if there were to be a reduction in conventional forces which did not affect the number of nuclear weapons we would be in danger of seriously lowering the nuclear threshold?

Mr. Hattersley

I have no comment to make on the statement by the Dutch Minister of Defence about 10 days ago. I would make clear to my hon. Friend, however, that the British Government take a position in these discussions that we co-ordinate with our allies, and a co-ordinated allied position does not include the proposition that nuclear weapons should be included at this stage.

Mr. Cormack

In view of the defence review proposals, will the hon. Gentleman accept that it is absolutely essential that any force reductions are really mutual and balanced, and, therefore, that even if the talks last for years we must not cut back our defence any more than we have done in the past few weeks?

Mr. Hattersley

The essential element in the talks is that they shall be mutual and balanced and that a reduction in armament spending should be and might be obtained by each side—the Warsaw Pact and NATO—without a reduction of the security of any one of the nations involved in the talks. That is the principle on which the talks were founded, and that is the principle on which we are continuing to participate in them.

Mr. Frank Allaun

Is there not good sense in the proposal of my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, Central (Mr. Cook)? Has not even Dr. Schlesinger said that the MBFR talks are the obvious forum for discussing this exact proposal, particularly since this item has been removed as a concession by the Soviet Government in the SALT talks which are taking place elsewhere?

Mr. Hattersley

There is obvious good sense in any reduction in armaments and arms spending which can be effected without a consequent reduction of security for any one party to the talks. We do not want to make judgments on whether those dual aims can be achieved until we have looked very carefully at any one element in the talks.