Mr Patrick Wall: Is consideration being given to withdrawing all Western embassies from Tehran? If not, why not.
Mr Patrick Wall: asked the Secretary of State for Defence to what degree the United Kingdom is participating in the United States AV8B programme.
Mr Patrick Wall: Does my hon. Friend agree that a long-term development programme undertaken with the United States for this type of aircraft would provide a better long-term investment for this country and for the Alliance, provided that British Aerospace is given an adequate share of the work?
Mr Patrick Wall: Is not the present position that with the SS20 the Soviet Union could hit any place in Europe, and that we have no means of hitting back by tactical nuclear weapons? Therefore, is not the modernisation of our weapons essential, and would not that give us a leverage towards SALT III, which most people want?
Mr Patrick Wall: The hon. Member for Inverness (Mr. Johnston) made a restrained and objective speech. The reasons why I cannot agree with him will become obvious in the course of what I have to say. I support the Bill. However, it may lead us into a dangerous situation. Therefore I want to start by discussing what might have been. When they came to power the Conservative Government should have recognised the...
Mr Patrick Wall: The first few lines of the clause state that provision may be made by Order in Council for an independence constitution for Zimbabwe. Will my right hon. Friend deal during the debate with the broad outline of the constitution which is in the White Paper, or will it be debated at a subsequent date? There are many items that need discussing.
Mr Patrick Wall: Will my right hon. Friend confirm that our ballistic missile submarines could be adapted for Trident 1, and would not Trident 1 and the cruise missile make the right mix for the next generation?
Mr Patrick Wall: Are the Government pressing for major changes in the entrenched clause of the constitution? If so, will my right hon. Friend bear in mind the danger that whites may leave Rhodesia and the security forces and the economy may collapse?
Mr Patrick Wall: asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on negotiations for an agreed common fisheries policy.
Mr Patrick Wall: On what basis will the negotiations continue? Can my right hon. Friend give any idea when they might be brought to fruition?
Mr Patrick Wall: asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the methods he proposes to adopt to counter the Soviet SS20.
Mr Patrick Wall: Is my right hon. Friend aware that NATO does not have a weapons system in its armoury that can match the 3,000 miles plus range of the SS20? Will he press ahead with our American allies to develop a cruise missile, and also, possibly, a mix with a new long-range tactical nuclear missile?
Mr Patrick Wall: The hon. Gentleman is always complaining about the lack of costing of the Conservatives' defence proposals and the plans of his own Government. Can he tell us what the Tribune group would spend on defence? Nothing?
Mr Patrick Wall: I was delighted to hear the speech of the hon. Member for Walsall, South (Mr. George). After some of the speeches we heard from Labour Benches yesterday and today, it was a pleasure. Having been a member of the Royal Marine Forces Volunteer Reserve while I was a Member of the House, I fully sympathise with the hon. Gentleman's views about the TAVR and I know they will find sympathy on both...
Mr Patrick Wall: I understand that they are in position, but of course the two divisions to which I referred will come later in any emergency. There is one issue on the tank that I want to take up. I am rather horrified to hear that the British will try to build a main battle tank for the 1980s at a cost of £1 million each, when the Americans are producing the XM-1 and the Germans the Leopard II. If the...
Mr Patrick Wall: The hon. Gentleman will recall that, in the days of which he has spoken, the Services got free accommodation, for example, and that when the military salary was introduced by a Labour Government, Labour committed itself to keeping comparability. But the Government have not done so.
Mr Patrick Wall: As the mobile SS20 has a range of about 3,000 miles and can therefore be fired from inside Russia, and as the maximum range of the present new tactical nuclear weapons in NATO is 450 miles, is it not essential that we should either have a cruise missile or a new intermediate range ballistic missile in the NATO arsenal as soon as possible?
Mr Patrick Wall: I appreciate the Prime Minister's genuine interest in Rhodesia, but is he not now contracting out? May I press him further about the appointment of an observer in Salisbury? Does he agree that the weakness of the internal settlement has largely been due to the fact that the West refused to back it? If that is repeated when an African majority Government is elected in April, the inevitable...
Mr Patrick Wall: If we are not to have a new nuclear deterrent, and as the right hon. Gentleman said the other day that we shall not go in for cruise missile technology, can he explain how we shall counter the newly deployed Russian SS18, 19 and 20?
Mr Patrick Wall: I say straight away that I understand the problems advanced by the hon. Member for Truro (Mr. Penhaligon) and sympathise very much with his point of view. Indeed, anyone who has read Fishing News of 17th November this year—" Looking South-West "—will understand not only the depth of the problem but the very strong feeling that exists in the South-West. I particularly agreed with the hon....
