HC Deb 11 April 1984 vol 58 cc376-7
11. Dame Judith Hart

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland on what planning assumptions he has asked Clydesdale district council to meet his requirements of civil defence preparations in the event of nuclear war.

Mr. George Younger

Certain planning assumptions were contained in my Department's circular ES(Scot) 1/1982, a copy of which is in the Library. We hope to issue more detailed assumptions later this year.

Dame Judith Hart

Do the present assumptions, and will the more detailed assumptions, include a clear estimate of the number of megaton bombs likely to fall in the west of Scotland, where they would fall, what the direction of the wind would be, what percentage of survival there would be and what the availability of food and medical supplies would be, or is the revelation of such assumptions too much to expect my constituents to take?

Mr. Younger

It is a little difficult to expect us to be in the confidence of any potential aggressor and therefore to know where the target areas will be. It is the responsibility of all of us, whether we are in central Government or local authority, to do everything humanly possible to ensure the safety of our population in any way that we can. That is what this planning is aimed at.

Mr. Bill Walker

Does my right hon. Friend agree that nuclear weapons falling on Lanarkshire, or anywhere else, would come in a variety of sizes and shapes, and that some of the nuclear weapons do less damage than conventional bombs?

Mr. Younger

I think we would all agree—[Interruption.]

Mr. Speaker

Order. I think that the Minister has a definitive reply to that question.

Mr. Younger

I doubt whether this is a laughing matter. The advent of any nuclear weapon in any part of the country would be disastrous, and that is why the policies of this Goverment, and, I hope, any other, are outstandingly devoted to preventing it ever happening.

Mr. Buchan

Does the question from the Minister's defence spokesman, the hon. Member for Tayside, North (Mr. Walker), not suggest that the problem of the Tory party in Scotland is not so much cracked eggs as cracked defence spokesmen? Is it not the case that the safest measures the Government could take would be to say no to cruise and to Trident and to remove the American nuclear bases from the Clyde?

Mr. Younger

I am sorry to tell the hon. Member that if I could think of a quicker way of ensuring that we were in greater danger from nuclear attack, that would be it.