§ Lord Jenkins of Putneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are aware that General Altenburg of the West German Bundeswehr has said "Nuclear first use can strike one target somewhere as a political signal and doesn't necessarily mean a transition to battlefield nuclear war in the Federal Republic of Germany" and whether, were such a statement made by a Soviet General, they would not condemn it as indicating a readiness to begin the nuclear escalation process leading to a holocaust.
§ Lord GlenarthurI refer the noble Lord to the full transcript of General Altenburg's interview, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. NATO is a defensive alliance and none of its weapons, whether conventional or nuclear, would ever be used except in response to attack.
The Parliament was dissolved hr Royal Proclamation on Friday, 13th May 1983.
End of the Fourth Session and of the Forty-eighth Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the thirty-second year of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.