HL Deb 30 July 1985 vol 467 cc260-1WA
Lord Jenkins of Putney

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How they reconcile the statement made by the Secretary of State for Defence to the Commons Select Committee that the use of nuclear weapons cannot be rationally contemplated with the statement in the Defence Estimates that the main purpose of Trident is to "pose a credible threat to key aspects of Soviet state power".

Lord Trefgarne

The British strategic nuclear force is a weapon of deterrence. Its purpose is to ensure that aggression against us can never be a rational option, by posing a credible threat of an unacceptable level of damage to an aggressor.