§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) of 19 January,Official Report, column 202, what measures have been taken by his Department in fulfilment of obligations under article VI of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe Government's policy continues to be to work for secure defence at the lowest possible level of armaments, both conventional and nuclear. To that end, we announced in 1991 substantial reductions in our nuclear weapons holdings including the giving up of the Lance missile and nuclear artillery roles; the reduction of the nuclear capable RAF squadrons from 11 to eight; the reduction of our WE177 bomb stockpile by more than half; and, in 1992, the elimination of our maritime sub-strategic capability. We are also party to, and are implementing, the conventional forces in Europe treaty and earlier this month we signed the chemical weapons convention.