HC Deb 21 June 1984 vol 62 cc460-1
2. Mr. Michael Brown

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to publish information on domestic nuclear shelters.

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Leon Brittan)

Information on domestic nuclear shelters is in the booklets "Domestic Nuclear Shelters" and "Domestic Nuclear Shelters—Technical Guidance" which were published in 1981 and are in the Library. We hope to publish information next year on a wider range of shelter designs and materials and on protective measures within the home.

Mr. Brown

Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that most of the designs which he has so far brought forward and are so far available are far too expensive for the average householder?

Mr. Brittan

A range is referred to in the existing literature and some are specifically designed to be as simple as possible. Research is being undertaken into new designs for improvised shelters, some of which have been tested in simulated nuclear explosions in America.

Mr. Maginnis

Will the Minister consider publishing examples of less expensive designs to augment the publication which has been prepared?

Mr. Brittan

The booklet "Domestic Nuclear Shelters" provides a brief guide to three basic kinds of shelter, one of which is a simple one for short-term indoor or outdoor use, which can be built from materials already at hand. Secondly, there are shelters which can be assembled from kits. Therefore, it is not right to say that the existing material is designed just for the most expensive kind of shelter. We shall consider the point made by the hon. Gentleman when it comes to the new publication.

Mr. Neil Thorne

Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware of the considerable expertise that has been gathered on this matter by firms in France and the fact that they are able to offer a package deal to communities in this area? Will he make himself aware of these experiments to see whether we might learn something from them?

Mr. Brittan

We are always willing to learn. My hon. Friend has particular knowledge of these matters, and I shall be happy to consider the point that he has made.

Mr. Allan Rogers

In view of the Home Secretary's answer to a previous question, will he tell the House how one simulates a nuclear explosion?

Mr. Brittan

I think that the information about that will be given when we publish the new design. It will explain the basis of the simulation.

Mr. Terlezki

Will my right hon. and learned Friend consider introducing legislation dealing with nuclear shelters as they exist, and have existed for many years, in Switzerland?

Mr. Brittan

I think that circumstances in Switzerland are different from those in this country, and I am not sure that to go along the Swiss road would meet our own particular needs.

Mr. Kilroy-Silk

This is all realy a bit of a farce, is it not? It is a fantasy, a bit of propaganda. If the right hon. and learned Gentleman really believes that the mystic nuclear shelter can offer a substantial degree of protection in the event of a nuclear war, why does he not make them available for everyone, instead of leaving them, as they are at present, an option available only to the rich, while the poor in high-rise flats, like those in my constituency, will be left unprotected?

Mr. Brittan

I do not think that the hon. Gentleman could conceivably have read "Domestic Nuclear Shelters", and the description of the basic kind of shelter, for him to put forward that proposition. To introduce the class war into the question of nuclear shelters is really straining the imagination a little too far, even for the hon. Gentleman.