§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he intends to oppose German proposals put to the December meeting of the North Atlantic Council that NATO should adopt a policy of no first use of nuclear weapons; and if he will make a statement. [61736]
§ Mr. George RobertsonNo member country has proposed to NATO that it adopt a policy of No First Use of nuclear weapons. In conducting the Strategic Defence Review we concluded that such a policy would be incompatible with our and NATO's doctrine of deterrence, and that it would not further nuclear disarmament. We see no need to change NATO nuclear policy as expressed in the Alliance Strategic Concept.
§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the figures were for military spending broken down into(a) nuclear and (b) non-nuclear spending in the most recent available year. [61739]
§ Mr. George RobertsonIt is not possible to divide military spending neatly into nuclear and non-nuclear because many force elements have a variety of roles which may include support to nuclear and non-nuclear tasks, as I set out in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Laura Moffat) on 2 November 1998,Official Report, columns 349–50.
Figures have been published in the annual UK Defence Statistics document and in the Strategic Defence Review White Paper, which also contains further detail. Copies are available in the Library of the House.