POLICY ON H-BOMB

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29246, 2 July 1960, Page 13

POLICY ON H-BOMB

New Labour Manifesto LONDON, June 30. Labour members of Parliament today approved the party’s new policy manifesto on the hydrogen bomb by a substantial majority, authoritative sources said T , The decision was taken at a long private meeting of the Parlia-' mentary Labour Party. r> Labour’s nuclear defence state-, ment opposes Britain alone banning the H-bomb. It reaffirms loyalty to the North Atlantic, Treaty \ Organisation but claims Britain is no longer in a position .to be an independent nuclear Power and that ’ the United States provide tne nuclear deterrent for Western defence.

The vote was 97 in favour of the defence policy and 15, against, authoritative sources said. There were few abstentions but fewer Labour M.P.’s were present today than at yesterday’s meet-, ing which gave an overwhelming personal vote of confidence to Mr Gaitskell, the leader of the Party. Mr Emrys Hughes, one of the' party’s Left-wing, today moved *: resolution proposing that con-, sideration of the defence mani-' festo be deferred for a mdhth. l This was defeated by 99 votes to 14. Mr Stephen Swingler, a leading member of the Victory for Socialism Parliamentary group which recently passed a motion urging the replacement of Mr Gaitskell as the party's leader, put forward another amendment. This regretted that the policy statement based Western defence on nuclear strategy. It also claimed that the policy , failed to recognise that a nuclear strategy under the exclusive con- ' trol of the United States could not be brought under effective control. This amendment was not put to the vote.