HC Deb 24 February 1987 vol 111 cc219-20W
Mr. Strang

asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether the existing understanding between the United Kingdom and the United States of America governing the use by the United States of its bases in the United Kingdom in an emergency applies equally to United States forces under national command and United States forces under North Atlantic Treaty Organisation command;

(2) whether the existing understanding between the United Kingdom and the United States of America governing the use by the United States of its bases in the United Kingdom in an emergency applies equally to conventional and nuclear weapons;

(3) whether the arrangements for implementing the existing understanding between the United Kingdom and the United States of America governing the use by the United States of its bases in the United Kingdom in an emergency are the same for conventional as for nuclear weapons.

Mr. Stanley

[pursuant to his reply, 23 February 1987): The Churchill/Truman understanding of 1952 reaffirmed that the use of these bases in an emergency would be a matter for joint decision by Her Majesty's Government and the United States Government in the light of the circumstances prevailing at the time. Appropriate arrangements exist to cover both conventional and nuclear United States forces, whether under national or NATO command. These arrangements are classified.