§ 3.43 p.m
§ Lord Jenkins of Putney asked Her Majesty's Government:
§ When they will extend their policy of unilateral nuclear disarmament from surface ships to all remaining nuclear weapons under their control.
Viscount St. DavidsMy Lords, for as long as nuclear weapons remain essential to our security the Government will maintain their policy of deploying adequate and effective nuclear forces.
§ Lord Jenkins of PutneyMy Lords, is the noble Viscount aware that at one time it was thought that to provide all surface ships with nuclear weapons was essential to our security? His right honourable friend the Secretary of State is the first Defence Minister to carry out the important step of unilateral nuclear disarmament. I warmly congratulate him.
Viscount St. DavidsMy Lords, I am sure that my right honourable friend the Secretary of State will be pleased to hear that.
§ Lord MayhewMy Lords, is the noble Viscount aware that on these Benches we have always maintained that so long as other countries possess nuclear weapons, so should we? Will he confirm the indication in yesterday's defence White Paper that the Government followed the advice given from these Benches and abandoned their proposals for a new surface-to-air nuclear missile system?
Viscount St. DavidsMy Lords, if the noble Lord, Lord Mayhew, reads the White Paper to which he referred, he will find that no such commitment has been made.
§ Lord Williams of ElvelMy Lords, is the noble Viscount aware that it was suggested that the decision to withdraw the Royal Navy's nuclear depth charges and free-fall bombs from Royal Navy planes derives not only from an awareness of a change in the national situation, but also from suspicions and anxieties in regard to the safety of those weapons? Can the noble Viscount confirm or deny those rumours?
§ Lord Jenkins of PutneyMy Lords, is the noble Viscount aware that I am proposing to send his right honourable friend, Malcolm Rifkind, a CND badge as a mark of my appreciation for the action he has taken? Will the Minister commend the policy to Her Majesty's Opposition?
Viscount St. DavidsMy Lords, the Government are not unilateralist. The unilateralists argued, when NATO was faced with a strong, cohesive and ideological Warsaw Pact, that we should give up our nuclear weapons. The Government's policy has always been to maintain the minimum deterrent required for our security needs. With the demise of the Warsaw Pact we have reduced our sub-strategic stockpile by more than 50 per cent., but nuclear forces will remain essential for our security.
§ Lord MolloyMy Lords, is it not correct to remember that although we all abhor these terrible weapons they have been forced upon us? At all times we should remember the great speech of Ernest Bevin when he created the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in the interests of freedom and safety, and in an endeavour to guarantee that freedom and safety to all those who may be threatened.