Nuclear Weapons (Hansard, 24 July 1998)

§ Mr. Corbyn
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what will be the sub strategic role for Trident submarines; and if he will make a statement. [51893]

§ Mr. George Robertson
The credibility of our minimum nuclear deterrent requires that we have the option, in extreme self-defence, of deterring further aggression through a nuclear ("sub-strategic") strike which is limited in scale and nature of target so that it could not be expected automatically to lead to a full scale nuclear exchange.

§ Mr. Corbyn
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals have been put to the NATO Council of Ministers for a no first use policy on the deployment of nuclear weapons. [51954]

§ Mr. George Robertson
No such proposals have been made to the NATO Council of Ministers.