HC Deb 15 March 1989 vol 149 cc245-6W
Mr. Cryer

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his latest estimate of the stockpile of chemical warfare agents held by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

The Soviet Union has the largest and most sophisticated chemical warfare capability in the world. Our estimate is that the Soviet stockpile of chemical warfare agents is several times larger than the 50,000 tonnes which it claims.