HC Deb 14 July 1997 vol 298 c7
4. Mr. Collins

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the Trident programme. [6510]

The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. George Robertson)

We will retain Trident to provide a minimum credible deterrent while pressing for the verifiable global elimination of nuclear weapons.

Mr. Collins

Will the Secretary of State clarify his ambiguous comments in The Daily Telegraph last week? Will he commit himself and the Government to deploy the same number of Trident submarines, Trident missiles and Trident warheads as the previous Government?

Mr. Robertson

There is nothing ambiguous about what I say. We will deploy only the minimum number of warheads required for credible deterrence in current circumstances in our Trident submarines. If the circumstances allow reductions in the size of our capabilities, we will be prepared to make them, while ensuring that we retain an effective deterrent.

Mrs. Gilroy

Does the Secretary of State recall the commitment given to retaining Trident—[Horn. MEMBERS: "Reading."]—while working for global disarmament clearly given in our manifesto and in "The Road to the Manifesto" and endorsed and ratified by the whole of the party? As it is a matter of considerable concern to constituents in Plymouth, Sutton, can he now confirm that the retention of Trident will not be a matter for the current defence review?

Madam Speaker

Before I call the Secretary of State, may I remind the House that we do not read parliamentary questions? This is why barracking comes from various parts of the House when this happens; it is quite unnecessary. I have said a number of times that Members should not read questions. I am sure that, during lunchtime, the questions can be worked out so that there is not always a need to refer to notes.

Mr. Robertson

I think some of the barracking comes from the guilty conscience of a group of people who do not seem to recognise that, when one makes promises in an election manifesto, one is expected to keep them—but that is why they are on the Opposition Benches now, not the Government Benches.

My hon. Friend represents an area where there is a keen interest in that issue and she is right to raise it in the House. We made a specific commitment, not just in our manifesto but in the draft document put to party members last year, to retain Trident as the basic minimum deterrent for this country. The Labour party has every intention of keeping to the promises that it made.