§ Mr. Hoyleasked the Secretary of State for Defence why the United Kingdom is spending money making improvements to Polaris; what will be the cost of this programme; why the United Kingdom is developing tactical nuclear weapons; and what the cost of these will be.
§ Mr. MulleyIt is our stated policy to maintain the effectiveness of our strategic and tactical nuclear forces which make an important contribution to NATO's nuclear deterrent. It is not the practice to disclose details of the research and development programme necessary to support our nuclear forces, but the overall 429W cost represents only a small fraction of the defence budget.