HC Deb 17 February 1981 vol 999 c98W
24 Mr. Allan Roberts

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whom the United Kingdom's nuclear capability is designed to deter.

Mr. Nott

The United Kingdom's nuclear capability forms part of NATO's nuclear forces, which are designed to deter any aggressor from launching an attack on the Alliance. There is no doubt in my mind that the gravest existing potential threat is posed by the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies.