HC Deb 13 May 1986 vol 97 cc546-7
9. Mr. Flannery

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if the allocated number of cruise missiles to be placed in the United Kingdom has now been completed.

Mr. Stanley

Information on the deployment of cruise missiles in the United Kingdom is provided in the "Annual Statement on the Defence Estimates." I refer the hon. Member to paragraph 320 of the 1986 Estimates, which were published yesterday, which indicates that the deployment of 96 cruise missiles at RAF Greenham common has been completed. Deployment of the remaining 64 missiles at RAF Molesworth is not due to be completed until 1988.

Mr. Flannery

Does the Minister realise the depth of worry in this country about cruise missiles? Is he aware that the vast majority of the British people are against them, especially in the atmosphere of worry about nuclear issues generally? Is it not a fact that a wave of horror went through this country when the Prime Minister took a personal decision about the bombing of Libya, without consulting even the Foreign Minister or the Cabinet, and that a deep worry about cruise missiles now pervades this country?

Mr. Stanley

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the recent events in Libya had nothing to do with INF missiles. I think that more people in this country are worried about the scale of the continued programme of deployment of long-range INF missiles by the Soviet Union. I remind the hon. Gentleman that when NATO initially took its twin-track decision on the deployment of INF missiles, the Soviet Union had 693 long-range INF warheads facing west—Europe—and it has already increased that number to 922, which are now deployed. I believe that the scale of that programme is the biggest single concern among the British people.

Sir Anthony Grant

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in Cambridgeshire, far from being worried about Government policy on the location of cruise missiles there, at last Thursday's local elections the Conservatives won four seats from the Liberals and two from Labour?

Mr. Stanley

I congratulate my hon. Friend on the results that he achieved in his constituency, which all Conservative Members will be seeking to emulate next May.

Mr. Skinner

Is the Minister aware that one of the more pleasing features about recent events in relation to cruise missiles has been that members of cruise watch have been able to harry the movements of those cruise missiles to a greater extent than ever before? Of course, we would like them to be even more successful. Will the hon. Gentleman condemn the tactics used by those who are driving the missile carriers in thier attempts to frustrate the peaceful efforts of those who are standing up for the majority in Britain, especially after the Libyan bombing?

Mr. Stanley

I note the hon. Gentleman's support for the protesters on the public highway, but I am afraid that I have to disappoint him. The programme of exercises for ground-launched cruise missiles is continuing very well and is not being disrupted by the protesters.

Mr. Stokes

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the Soviet Government and Warsaw Pact powers made an immense propaganda effort to prevent those missiles being based in the West? The programme has gone forward, and all of us in the West feel much happier for that reason.

Mr. Stanley

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I am sure that it is not a coincidence that the fact that the NATO countries have gone ahead with their deployment option on INF missiles has, for the first time, brought the Soviet Union back to the INF negotiating table. I hope that it will provide a means of bringing about a fair and equitable arms control agreement in relation to those nuclear missiles.

Mr. O'Neill

Will the Minister confirm that at the time of the United States raid on Libya, cruise missiles were placed on amber alert? Were the Government consulted before that took place?

Mr. Stanley

There was no change at all in nuclear alert states at that time.

Mr. Hirst

Does my right hon. Friend recall that the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the anti-nuclear lobby asserted that the deployment of cruise in the United Kingdom and Europe would wreck any chance of arms reduction talks? Does he agree that the opposite has happened? Will he take this opportunity to restate the Government's continuing commitment to a mutual, balanced, and verifiable reduction of nuclear weapons?

Mr. Stanley

I am happy to tell my hon. Friend that I shall most certainly restate that commitment to an equitable, verifiable arms control agreement in INF and elsewhere. The pattern of the INF negotiations has once again brought out the old adage that the Soviet Union is prepared to negotiate on arms control provided that we are negotiating from a position of some strength.