HC Deb 03 May 1983 vol 42 cc7-8
6. Mr. Marlow

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many military installations there are in the Greater London council area.

Mr. Wiggin

About 70.

Mr. Marlow

Will my hon. Friend take urgent steps to tell Comrade Andropov that London is now a nuclear-free zone, so if he wishes to target missiles on the United Kingdom we should be grateful if he would target them elsewhere? If my hon. Friend receives something of a raspberry by way of a reply, will he ask his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment to do something about the current monstrous and extravagant advertising campaign in the GLC area?

Mr. Wiggin

I think that my hon. Friend is straying into areas of responsibility covered by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, but I share his view of the uselessness of declaring nuclear-free zones in the modern world. He might as well declare his own house to be a thunderstorm-free zone.

Mr. Jessel

Is my hon. Friend aware that the most popular military installation in the GLC area is Kneller Hall in Twickenham, where the Royal Military School of Music trains British Army bands which are the envy of the world and whose high standard of excellence is inextricably linked with Kneller Hall, which I hope will long continue?

Mr. Wiggin

I am aware of my hon. Friend's deep interest in the future of Kneller Hall. I shall certainly bear his comments in mind. I am sure that the whole House agrees with them.