HC Deb 01 March 1983 vol 38 cc124-5
8. Mr. Maclennan

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what further steps he will take to promote balanced and verifiable nuclear disarmament.

The Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mr. Peter Blaker)

We have worked consistently for balanced and verifiable nuclear disarmament and shall continue to do so. The first priority is to reach agreement in the Geneva negotiations, where the United States has made proposals for reductions in both strategic and intermediate range nuclear forces. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has explained, Her Majesty's Government fully support the proposals that were made by the Americans after discussion with their NATO allies.

Mr. Maclennan

Will the Government encourage NATO to consider promoting a battlefield nuclear weapons-free zone in the context of the mutual and balanced force reduction discussions?

Mr. Blaker

We are aware of proposals that have been made on that subject and we shall study them. The hon. Gentleman will realise that they present certain difficulties, such as the problem of weapons targeted on the zone from outside the zone; the fact that many systems such as the SS20 are mobile; and the question of verification, which would provide particular difficulties in relation to battlefield nuclear weapons because some have dual capability.

Mr. Denzil Davis

Since the talks in Geneva are bilateral talks between the Americans and the Soviet Union, and since all the weapons on the Western side discussed in those talks are American-owned weapons, will the Minister explain what the Government mean by multilateral nuclear disarmament? Where is the "multi" in the multilateral?

Mr. Blaker

There are many negotiations going on for multilateral disarmament, but what the right hon. Gentleman and his party are now calling for, contrary to what they used to believe in, is one-sided disarmament. It is to the disadvantages of one-sided disarmament that we draw attention.

Sir Anthony Kershaw

Will my hon. Friend bear in mind that unless we have some arms in our hands we shall have nothing to bargain with, and that all this verification and so on will not be worth a row of beans?

Mr. Blaker

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. What is perfectly clear is that Mr. Andropov has put forward some proposals, unsatisfactory though they may be, because we have continued with our intention to build up our own forces pending a satisfactory agreement. If we were to follow the policy advocated by the Labour party, he would not be making those concessions.