HC Deb 29 November 1983 vol 49 cc748-9
3. Mr. Fisher

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many battlefield nuclear weapons are deployed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in Europe.

Mr. Heseltine

NATO currently deploys about 1,100 short-range missile systems and artillery pieces which could be used in the nuclear role although many of these systems also have an important conventional role.

Mr. Fisher

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that these battlefield nuclear weapons, of which NATO deploys a great many more than the Warsaw pact, are the least credible of our defence options and the most dangerous in that they are likely to lead to escalation towards a full nuclear war? Will he seek a review of NATO policy on battlefield nuclear weapons?

Mr. Heseltine

I do not accept that there is the imbalance to which the hon. Gentleman refers. We set out our views in the defence White Paper, which presents the broad balance in this context. It is in the INF range that we feel the imbalance is tipped heavily in favour of the Soviet Union. I welcome the opportunity to respond to the hon. Gentleman's suggestion of a review, which he will appreciate we have recently carried out. As a result, we have decided to withdraw warheads—largely in this class of weapons system—so that in the next few years we shall have the lowest number of warheads deployed in Europe for 20 years.

Mr. McNamara

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that, even allowing for the withdrawals that he has announced, we shall still have a substantial number of artillery nuclear pieces within easy accessability of a Russian thrust? On the basis of "use them or lose them", there is an increasing temptation for a battlefield commander to use these pieces. Would it not be better to follow Lord Carver's advice and withdraw all these artillery nuclear pieces from the battlefield zone?

Mr. Heseltine

It is interesting that the hon. Gentleman has this new-found vision of how to create a NATO deterrence. I am only surprised that he was so happy to support the last Labour Government, who had no such views about these short-range nuclear weapons. The Government's view is that we maintain the very deterrence which the Labour Government relied upon by maintaining deterrence at every level, and that is what we intend to do.