HL Deb 08 May 1987 vol 487 cc353-5

11.13 a.m.

Lord Kennet

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

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, before deciding to launch nuclear weapons, the Prime Minister would consult the Queen.

The Lord President of the Council (Viscount Whitelaw)

My Lords, it has been the practice of successive governments not to discuss arrangements for nuclear weapons release, nor to answer questions directly or indirectly about the position of the monarch.

Lord Kennet

My Lords, can the noble Viscount give the House an assurance that the Prime Minister is at least as likely to consult the Queen as to consult the United States Administration?

Viscount Whitelaw

My Lords, as I made clear in my original Answer, both these matters are confidential. Therefore, I am afraid that I cannot give any assurance one way or the other.

Lord Mellish

My Lords, the noble Viscount recognises the difficulties arising from this Question. However, can I have an assurance that whatever happens regarding the discharge of these terrifying weapons, we shall not—I repeat, not—consult the noble Lord, Lord Kennet?

Viscount Whitelaw

My Lords, that would not be a matter for me.

Lord Jenkins of Putney

My Lords, is the noble Viscount aware that as the matter rests in the hands of the President of the United States of America, in reality the Government are unlikely to have any opportunity to consult anyone?

Viscount Whitelaw

My Lords, the noble Lord will not tempt me to depart from my original Answer. As these matters are confidential, I do not wish to say anything one way or the other.

Lord Renton

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that a nuclear war is the least likely of all the hazards of peace and war for which we should be prepared? Experience over the last 40 years has shown that more realistically we should be ready for the possibility—I put it no higher—of a conventional conflict.

Viscount Whitelaw

My Lords, I must not be tempted to break the rules which it is my duty to your Lordships to help the House to follow. That duty is not to answer questions which do not arise directly from the Question on the Order Paper. Having said that, I agree entirely with my noble friend.

Lord Molloy

My Lords, can the noble Viscount the Leader of the House confirm—it could not be revealing any confidentiality—that there is an arrangement, acknowledged by the Prime Minister, under which very close liaison exists with United States' personnel in this country relating to the release of nuclear weapons? That is a fact; and there need not be too much alarm.

Viscount Whitelaw

My Lords, that may all be very well, but I have answered the Question on the Order Paper.

Lord Boyd-Carpenter

My Lords, is it not unusual to involve the name of the monarch in a Starred Question on a controversial issue?

Viscount Whitelaw

My Lords, I simply did what I believed was my duty to your Lordships. I replied to a Question that had been put down on the Order Paper and therefore had to be answered.

Lord Hatch of Lusby

My Lords, the noble Viscount talks about confidentiality. There is nothing confidential about the fact that the President of the United States is commander-in-chief of all American forces. To the extent that those forces are linked with nuclear weapons in this country, is it not a fact, as my noble friend Lord Jenkins has pointed out, that the Prime Minister is constitutionally bound by agreement to consult with the President of the United States before there is any question of British nuclear weapons being used? Is that not a public rather than a confidential fact?

Viscount Whitelaw

My Lords, whether it is a confidential or non-confidential fact, it does not arise from the Question on the Order Paper.

Lord Harmar-Nicholls

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that many of us can see no point in these kinds of mischievous Questions appearing on the Order Paper?

Viscount Whitelaw

My Lords, however that may be, if they appear, it is my duty to your Lordships to answer them.

Lord Gladwyn

My Lords, if the noble Viscount agrees with his noble friend Lord Renton that nuclear war is highly unlikely, and even impossible, what is the point of organising civil defences against such an eventuality?

Viscount Whitelaw

My Lords, I have to abide by the rules which the House has laid down on all of us and say that that question simply does not arise from the Question on the Order Paper.