– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 16 December 1965.
asked the Prime Minister what plans were in existence on 1st April, 1965, for a test of a component of the Polaris nuclear warhead.
I have been asked to reply. None, Sir.
Will the right hon. Gentleman confirm that the Prime Minister told the House in December, 1964, that the component required further testing and that on 1st April he specifically denied that any tests were planned for the autumn, but that the tests subsequently took place? Will he specifically say on what date the decision to make arrangements for the test was taken?
The original Answer which was given to the hon. Gentleman—not the Answer I have just given—was exactly right and there were no plans on the date to which he referred. We made the announcement after the test had taken place, quite differently from what the previous Administration did, for it did not make an announcement either before or afterwards.