Nuclear Disarmament

HC Deb 15 January 1980 vol 976 cc1409-11

2. Mr. Norman Atkinson

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many nuclear weapons Great Britain has destroyed as a result of nuclear disarmament talks at any time since their introduction.

Mr. Pym

None. The United Kingdom is a party to all the nuclear arms control treaties open to it and has fulfilled all its obligations under them. None of these has required us to destroy any of our nuclear weapons.

Mr. Atkinson

Does the Secretary of State not agree that it is appalling that none of the negotiated nuclear reductions has ever taken place or that no obsolete weapons have been destroyed, dismantled or withdrawn from service? Will he give an undertaking that he will withdraw the 572 Pershing 1 and cruise missiles from service, and if necessary, under international inspection, destroy them once they are taken out of service?

Mr. Pym

The hon. Member has referred to weapon systems that belong to the United States. They are not British weapons. As the hon. Member knows, the United States has made an offer about the withdrawal of warheads which has so far received a negative response. There has been no involvement of British weapons in the theatre nuclear force modernisation to which the hon. Member referred.

Mr. Cormack

Can my right hon. Friend tell the House how many nuclear weapons the Soviet Union has destroyed, and how much that country has spent on nuclear weapons in the last three years?

Mr. Pym

I do not know how much the Soviet Union has spent, but I know that it has been very slow in withdrawing some nuclear warheads—especially the SS4s and SS5s which had been expected to be withdrawn at a certain rate. In the meantime, Russian SS20s have been built up at a rate which causes the Alliance considerable concern.

Mr. Cook

Has the Secretary of State read the speech in another place by Lord Carver, the former Chief of Defence Staff? If he has not, will he do so; and, if he has, did he notice the statement of the former Chief of Defence Staff to the effect that in 20 years he had never found a single realistic scenario in which Britain would use the nuclear deterrent independently? Is it not, as Lord Carver said, simply political machismo that has kept that deterrent going?

Mr. Pym

Lord Carver is entitled to his opinion, as is the hon. Member for Edinburgh, Central (Mr. Cook). The Government have a responsibility for the security of the realm. It has been, and it remains, our view that nuclear weapons of various types are a necessary element of our defence capability.