Trident

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Defence – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 19 November 1991.

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Photo of Sir Archie Hamilton Sir Archie Hamilton The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence 12:00, 19 November 1991

I am amazed that the hon. Gentleman should come out with those remarks about the deterrent in which we are investing just when his party is purporting to change its policy. Presumably he is about to resign the Whip, or something of that sort, from the Labour party in this place.

The nuclear deterrent has been very effective in ensuring the security of the west over the past 40 years. We are now left with major nuclear arsenals in Russia, the Ukraine, Byelorussia and Kazakhstan and there is great uncertainty hanging over those areas. It is a wise precaution to ensure that we continue to have the nuclear deterrent which has served us so well in the past.