§ 4. Mr. Randallasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his discussions with the NATO Defence Ministers on 20 March.
§ 34. Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will make a statement on the nuclear planning group meeting he attended in March.
372WKingdom) average. The table also shows the crude death rates from myeloid leukaemia for these areas, which may be compared with the national rate of 3.85 per 100,000 persons.
Out of the 457 areas there are 25 which contain nuclear installations, and of these two are among the 20 areas listed in the table. It should be remembered that the numbers of deaths from myeloid leukaemia are small and the number in any particular area may fluctuate considerably from year to year. No great significance should therefore be attached to the rate for any particular area in just one year.
The other 13 forms of cancer for which data have been extracted are malignant neoplasm of the liver, lung, bone, female breast, testis, brain, and thyroid glands; Hodgkins's disease; other malignant neoplasm of lymphoma; multiple myeloma; lymphoid leukaemia; monocytic leukaemia; and other specified and unspecified leukaemia. The excess mortality of these other 13 forms of malignancy has been examined for those 25 areas which contain a nuclear installation. Ynys Mon (Anglesey) and Northavon feature in the table for myeloid leukaemia; Ynys Mon was also 44th in the ranking for other malignant neoplasms of lymphoma, whilst Northavon was 20th in the ranking for liver neoplasms. These results are also based on very small numbers of deaths. There is also a tendency for the 25 areas to be low in the ranking for lung cancer, and this is consistent with the rural nature of these areas.
§ Mr. Strawasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the meeting of the NATO nuclear planning group.
§ Mr. YoungerDefence Ministers of the members of NATO's nuclear planning group held one of their regular twice yearly meetings in Wurzburg on 20 and 21 March. We discussed a range of topics, including the status of nuclear forces and arms control, and I provided a 373W comprehensive briefing on British nuclear forces. A copy of the communiqué of the meeting has been placed in the Library.
§ 37. Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Defence what subjects he will be discussing at the NATO ministerial meeting in May.
§ Mr. YoungerI refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth, East (Mr. Atkinson) on 11 March, at column 798. The agenda is confidential.