HL Deb 18 December 1969 vol 306 cc1262-3
LORD BROCKWAY

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government: Whether NATO retains the right to be the first to use nuclear weapons in the event of war.]

THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE, R.A.F. (LORD WINTER-BOTTOM)

My Lords, the security of Western Europe rests on NATO'S deterrent policy which poses the threat that large-scale aggression could lead to a nuclear response with consequences unacceptable to the aggressor. Under the strategy of flexible response adopted in 1967, nuclear action by NATO in the event of aggression is not automatic. The policy of the Alliance is that, even against large-scale conventional attack, its own conventional forces should be strong enough to allow time for negotiation or, if necessary, for a considered nuclear decision to be made. It is, however, fundamental that NATO should retain the right to be the first to use nuclear weapons, if necessary, should aggression against a member country take place.

LORD BROCKWAY

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that I greatly appreciate his letter to me in which he asked me to put down a further Question because he gave an incorrect answer when I put a question previously? I do not want to take advantage of that generosity on his part, but I would ask him this further question: if NATO is the first to use tactical nuclear weapons, is there not a danger that the response from a potential enemy might be the use of full atomic weapons, including even the hydrogen bomb?

LORD WINTERBOTTOM

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for his courtesy, and I must apologise to him and to the House for my imprecision in answering a previous supplementary question. However, this is the whole basis of the strategy of flexible response. We must retain the right to be the first to use nuclear weapons if necessary, but we hope that the policy of flexible response, indeed the whole policy of the deterrent, will make this entirely unnecessary.