HC Deb 19 March 1984 vol 56 c343W
Mr. Frank Cook

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Her Majesty's Government's attitude to the proposals by the United States Government for the production of modern chemical weapons for deployment in Europe.

Mr. Luce

The United States, together with the United Kingdom, is pressing for early agreement at the conference on disarmament in Geneva on a total ban on the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. Soviet agreement to such a ban and destruction of its massive chemical weapon offensive capability would obviate the need for the United States to pursue modernisation of its limited national capability. Congress has not yet approved funds for such modernisation.