Chemical and Biological Weapons (Hansard, 29 June 1992)

§ Mr. Livingstone
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what British equipment related to chemical and biological warfare has been tested at any military establishment in Australia and New Zealand since 1962; and what was the nature of this work.

§ Mr. Aitken
As explained in the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces on 21 May 1992,Official Report, column 254, the United Kingdom armed forces chemical and biological equipment is wholly for defence.
Environmental testing of prototypes of the S10 respirator was carried out in Austalia in the 1980s.

§ Mr. Livingstone
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research his Department's scientists have conducted into the incapacitating agent BZ; and what is the evaluation of BZ as a weapon of war.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
BZ has been identified as a possible incapacitating agent which might be used against United Kingdom armed forces. The chemical and biological defence establishment has carried out studies of anticholinergic compoounds including BZ which confirmed the effectiveness of medical counter-measures against their effects.

§ Mr. Livingstone
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Public Record Office the documents relating to the Cabinet Defence Committee in July 1956 to abandon unilaterally all offensive chemical and biological weapons; and for what reason these papers have not yet been placed in the Public Record Office.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
The documents in question continue to be properly withheld under the established criteria of the Public Records Acts.

§ Mr. McAllion
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the research establishments conducting human or animal research on nerve gases in Britain.

§ Mr. Aitken
The only research establishment for which my department is responsible conducting research on nerve gases involving animal or human studies is the chemical and biological defence establishment, Porton Down. All research is conducted for defence purposes with the aim of developing effective protective measures for the armed forces against the use of chemical and biological warfare by an aggressor.

§ Mr. McAllion
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many experiments with physostigmine on human volunteers have been carried out at the chemical and biological defence establishment, Porton Down in each year since 1987.
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§ Mr. Aitken
This is a matter for the chemical and biological defence establishment (CBDE) under its framework document. I have asked the chief executive of CBDE to write to the hon. Member.