HC Deb 24 November 1986 vol 106 cc75-6W
Mr. Deakins

asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what Her Majesty's Government understand to be the current commitment by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to defend the United Kingdom in the event of a conventional attack; and if he will make a statement;

(2) if he has had any discussions with those North Atlantic Treaty Organisation states without an independent nuclear deterrent about the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's obligations to them in the event of aggression against them; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Stanley

The key principle of the North Atlantic Alliance remains that enshrined in article V of the North Atlantic Treaty which states thatThe Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.

Mr. Terlezki

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish information on the production or storage of chemical gas by North Atlantic Treaty Organisation countries; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Stanley

The United Kingdom abandoned its chemical warfare capability in the late 1950s, and no change to that policy is now proposed. Details of national defence capabilities are a matter for national Governments. The United States has a limited and aging retaliatory stockpile of chemical weapons. Further details of this capability are provided in the report of the United States' chemical warfare review commission and the annual report by the United States' Secretary of Defence for the fiscal year 1987, copies of which are in the Library of the House.