HC Deb 26 January 1988 vol 126 cc185-6W
46. Mr. Gareth Wardell

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the implications for United Kingdom defence policy of the resumption by the United States of America of a chemical weapons production.

67. Mr. Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the implications for United Kingdom defence policy of the resumption by the United States of America of chemical weapons production.

68. Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the implications for United Kingdom defence policy of the resumption by the United States of America of chemical weapons production.

94. Mrs. Ann Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the implications for United Kingdom defence policy of the resumption by the United States of chemical weapons production.

Mr. Ian Stewart

The modernisation of the United States' limited retaliatory chemical weapons capability with binary munitions will underline to the Soviet Union the benefits of reaching early agreement in the negotiations in Geneva for a comprehensive and verifiable global ban on chemical weapons, which remains the Government's primary aim. In the absence of such an agreement, the production of binary munitions will contribute to the maintenance of NATO's deterrent strategy in the face of the massive Soviet chemical warfare capability.