§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What, in their view, is the status of the United States President's proposal to Mr. Gorbachev in Reykjavik that all strategic ballistic missiles be abolished within 10 years, and whether this proposal was among those to which the Secretary of State for Defence gave Her Majesty's Government's approval at Gleneagles last year.
§ The Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Lord Trefgarne)As the communiqué from the Gleneagles meeting of the Nuclear Planning Group makes clear, the Ministers fully endorsed President Reagan's bold attempt to seek far-reaching arms control agreements with the Soviet Union. The United States have stated that the possibility of the elimination of offensive ballistic missiles in 10 years is not a major element in thier negotiating posture. As my right honourable friend the Prime Minister agreed with President Reagan at their Camp David meeting last November, the priority in strategic arms control is to achieve a 50 per cent. cut in US and Soviet strategic offensive weapons. They also agreed that NATO's strategy would continue to require effective nuclear deterrence based on a mix of systems.