HC Deb 25 January 1977 vol 924 c1152
4. Mr. Frank Allaun

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the recent declaration by the NATO Ministers Defence Planning Committee on the first-use of nuclear weapons.

Mr. Mulley

At their meeting in Brussels on 9th and 10th December the NATO Foreign Ministers emphasised that the member States of the Alliance could not, in the event of their being attacked, renounce the possible defensive use of any of the means available to them.

Mr. Allaun

It is not clear that if NATO launched nuclear missiles first, it would mean suicide, because of immediate retaliation?

Mr. Mulley

I do not think that the NATO Alliance has any intention of indulging in aggressive action at all. The question, which is not a new one, is whether the renunciation of the first use would or would not assist us in our deterrent posture, and the member countries of the Alliance have decided that it would not.

Mr. Goodhew

Is the Secretary of State aware that the more that the Government continue policies of cutting away at our conventional forces the more likely it makes the thing that worries the hon. Member for Salford, East (Mr. Allaun), which is a first strike by this country in nuclear arms, the only way out?

Mr. Mulley

The hon. Gentleman should be aware that for 30 years we have accepted that we cannot conduct the defences of this nation entirely on our own. We are part of an Alliance, in terms of both nuclear and conventional capability. As I have said at some length, we are playing and shall continue to play a full rôle in that collective defence.