Left-wing M.P.s And Nuclear Deterrent

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31364, 9 May 1967, Page 17

Left-wing M.P.s And Nuclear Deterrent

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, May 8. Left-wing Labour members want a guarantee that Britain would not buy any more American missiles to maintain the strength of her nuclear deterrent, Chapman Pincher said in the “Daily Express,” today.

They hoped to use this demand to force a showdown in Parliament over Mr Harold Wilson’s failure to keep his pre-election promise to get rid of independent nuclear weapons.

Their chance had arisen because Navy chiefs were considering the more advanced Poseidon H-bomb missile for the four nuclear submarines now being built to take Polaris. Inquiries this week-end showed both the Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Mr Denis Healey, wanted to reserve the right to buy the Poseidon if necessary. The

cost would be at least £lOO million with their new Hbomb warheads. Mr Wilson now realised the independent nuclear deterrent was a strong political weapon, Pincher said. It was a powerful card in his bid to enter the Common Market. The Germans still hankered after a political union with a common European defence force to which Britain’s nuclear weapons and knowhow would be a vital contribution. The possession of such weapons also carried weight with President de Gaulle.