U.K. Policy Unchanged On H-Bombs In Planes

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28540, 20 March 1958, Page 17

U.K. Policy Unchanged On H-Bombs In Planes

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

LONDON, March 18. The Prime Minister (Mr Macmillan) made it clear today that the British Government’s policy on the carrying of hydrogen bombs by British and American aircraft over Britain remained unchanged in spite of the recent accident in South Carolina.

Answering questions in the House of Commons from the Labour Opposition, Mr Macmillan said nuclear weapons were only carried on special operational exercises or on training exercises in which it was necessary to transport the weapons with their aircraft from one airfield to another.

“Bombs carried in these exercises are never ready for instantaneous use,” he said. The bombs could not be made ready for use accidentally. Labour members had urged the Prime Minister, in view of the accident, to stop the carrying of hydrogen bombs on patrol over Britain.

Mr Macmillan said the cause of the recent accident in the southern United States was quickly known. Consequently, the United States authorities were able to inform the British almost immediately of the new arrangements which should prevent any repetition. Navigational Errors?

A former Labour Air Minister (Mr Arthur Henderson) warned of the danger of possible navigational errors. In March, 1953, a British Lincoln bomber was shot down by Soviet fighters after it had crossed into East Germany as a result of a navigational error.

British-based bombers carrying H-bombs should be restricted from flying over European territory, he urged. Mr Macmillan said he took note of this point and would deal with it at a later date. Another Labour member (Mr Frank said that if a live bomb was dropped by mistake, it would be “the final mistake for anything up to 1,000,000 people in this country.” He suggested it would be bet-

ter to bah any flights over Britain of aircraft carrying nuclear weapons.

The Prime Minister disagreed. “That would be far too limiting to training and the use of the deterrent.” he said. Questions By Bevan Labour’s foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Aneurin Bevan, asked what precisely Mr Macmillan meant by Maying the bombs were being carried for training purposes. Mr Macmillan replied: “These are carried partly for training and partly for operational exercises. It is necessary during these operational exercises that the bomb should be carried and that it should not be separated from the machine.”

Mr Bevan said Mr Macmillan’s reply was obscure. Repeating his question, he urged the Prime Minister to be more precise.

Mr Macmillan said: “In training, it is necessary and wise to carry both the bomb and the loading apparatus. The bomb is neither loaded nor artned by the apparatus in the air.”