§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the defence budget in each of the last five years has been spent on nuclear weapons systems and warheads; and on research into such systems and warheads, respectively.
§ Mr. PattieIt is not the practice to make available details of year-by-year expenditure on nuclear weapons. Expenditure on the nuclear strategic force as a proportion of the total defence budget in each of the last five years is, however, estimated to be as follows:
per cent. 1979–80 1.5 1980–81 1.5 1981–82 2.2 1982–83 2.3 1983–84 2.4