§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will submit the proposed sites for the 160 ground launched cruise missiles to a ballot of the people in the proposed areas likely to be affected by retaliatory nuclear attack and adopt the criterion that the missiles will be sited only if there is an overwhelming majority of those eligible to vote in favour.
§ Mr. PymResponsibility for the security of the country rests on the Government, and local ballots would be a wholly inappropriate way of deciding national defence issues. As I said in the House on 15 January—[Vol. 976,c. 1417]—the siting of these weapons in no way affects the vulnerability or otherwise of a particular place. We are all vulnerable if deterrence fails.
§ 17. Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria the United States Government are requiring when discussing the positioning of the 160 ground-launched cruise missiles in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. PymWe and the US Government are jointly considering which locations would be most suitable. Among the factors to be taken into account are the availability of space and of storage and accommodation facilities, the time scale within which these could be made availalbe and communications to the site or sites generally.
§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total cost to (a) the United Kingdom Government and (b) 126W the United States Government of the proposed deployment of 160 ground-launched cruise missiles in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. PymThe estimated total cost of the programme to modernise NATO long-range theatre nuclear forces in Europe, including procurement and running costs, is about $5,000 million. A precise apportionment of this cost nation by nation is not available. The United States will bear the vast majority of the cost, but there will be common NATO funding of the infrastructure works programme required. The United Kingdom's share of this is estimated at about £10 million.