The Case Against Unilateralism

...the first example of international control over disarmament in the territories of the major nuclear powers of the world...

...That is the case—the overwhelming case—for the West retaining nuclear weapons so long as the Russians have them...

...Why, at the Labor party conference two years ago I went out of my way to emphasize that because we believed that it was necessary to hold on to our own bombs then, this did not mean that we were going on and on manufacturing nuclear weapons...

...the United States of America had been in it, I do not believe we should ever have had a second World War...

...We are agreed, as we have said for a long time in the House of Commons, that the Thor missile bases, manned by British troops, should not have been proceeded with...

...I think we are agreed that there is really no chance of making the United Nations what we should like it to be unless and until the Communist Government of China takes her rightful seat in the United Nations...

...We are agreed that we want to see the emphasis shifted from the early use of nuclear weapons, so that should—God forbid!—such a conflict arise, then it could be handled by conventional forces, at least for a time, and there could be a pause before the ghastly possibility of using nuclear weapons arises...

...Our policy, as I have said, is that in the light of the abandonment of Blue Streak by the Tory Government— with all the waste, incidentally, that was involved in trying to start it—Great Britain should give up the idea of being an independent nuclear power...

...You have to think of it...

...Let me tell you what I think about Russia's policy...

...We disagree about what is called unilateral nuclear disarmament...

...and really, with our best friends and allies out of the alliance, with the sort of difficulties we have with the Governments of France and Germany, we wash our hands of Europe...

...If the West has no power of retaliation, there will be no question of Khrushchev facing the danger of bringing down nuclear bombs on Russia if he decided to start a war...

...on the essential need for comprehensive, controlled disarmament...

...In my view, they would be right so to refuse...

...It is easy for Michael Foot to point to me and say, "There...

...Bearing in mind all these things, and reflecting on the events of recent years—what they did in Hungary, even their attempt to influence affairs in the Congo outside the United Nations—it would not be wise for us to take the risk...

...I know that there are some people who say: "But we would rather be overrun by the Soviet Union and become a Communist state than risk war...

...one with a pistol...

...I do not believe any country has the intention of doing this...

...All right...

...It is surely simply this: NATO was created because the nations of Western Europe and ourselves and the United States felt threatened...

...I think we are all agreed that we passionately want the negotiations on nuclear tests to succeed, not only because this will remove the fear of poisoning the atmosphere in the future from such tests, but because if they do succeed it will give us For some time now, Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition has been rendered impotent by an internal split over whether or not Britain should pursue a policy of unilateral nuclear disarmament...

...As recently as last March, in the defense debate in the House of Commons, I explained again the case for this policy...

...For it found it necessary—realizing the incompatibility of simply saying that there must be British nuclear unilateral disarmament and remaining in the NATO alliance—to go on to put as one of its aims not only the removal of nuclear bases from which H-bombers or missiles might be launched from British territory, but the revision of and, if need be, withdrawal from any alliance or treaty which relies on the possession or use of nuclear weapons...

...But I think that our efforts in the House of Commons have at least, through the rousing of public opinion at home, made it into the least aggressive of the great powers in NATO...

...I do not want to see the influence of Britain removed from the NATO Alliance...

...Even so, do you really think that the Americans, having lost those whom they regarded as their closest friends and allies, would be disposed, in face of what they would regard as a complete betrayal, to listen to us...

...It was the policy of the party...

...That is the value of deterrence...

...after all...

...Now that is our policy...

...Heaven knows, we have criticized and attacked and prodded the British Government: and, heaven knows, we are not satisfied with the foreign policy that it has pursued...

...You will remember his simile of the two men...

...Thus the logic of the unilateralists' position is clear...

...You cannot escape it...

...The leader of the party has advocated this idea in the past...

...I remember very well the longing we had then for the democracies of the West to stand with the Soviet Union against Hitler Germany...

...We do not disagree that ultimately the only solution must be...

...I know there are people who say they would like to see the Americans out...

...That is a bit of a temptation, you know...

...Do we really want that...

...They do not usually quote the case that I made at the same time, trying to express a reasonable view of this profoundly difficult issue, the case against our haying our own nuclear weapons...

...Now I think, as I have said on many occasions before, that if this country withdraws from NATO, then two possibilities emerge...

...It is certainly not what the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament means...

...There is only one thing that we can say is certain in this—they will have to replace the strength they lose from our withdrawal, and there is no doubt at all about where that will come from: It will come from Western Germany...

...I believe we are agreed that it is impossible to conceive of the disarmament negotiations succeeding unless and until China becomes a party to them...

...I believe it...

...It has been quoted many times in the Tribune...

...to get a summit meeting...

...1 think we are agreed that we do not intend to resume nuclear tests ourselves...

...We are agreed, too...

...If vou put aside for the moment the North Atlantic Treaty Organization issue and assume we are still members of NATO, then I believe we all agree on the policies we seek to implement—e.g., such as disengagement in central Europe, which we in the House of Commons have supported lor the past two-and-a-half years...

...Strangely enough, a most powerful, vivid argument for our point of view was put forward this morning by none other than Ian Mikardo...

...We all agree that our first principle is support, not only for the United Nations Charter as it is— and if there were any doubts about this, they were dispelled at the time of Suez—but also for the idea that ultimately only world government can guarantee peace and freedom for humanity...

...Despite the setback he suffered—which he has vowed to "fight and fight and fight"—Gaitskell has retained by a two-to-one vote the party leadership he assumed in 1955...

...I do not want that, and it is not necessary, because I believe that we can have our freedom and peace at the same time, so long as we remain loyal to our alliance and to our friends...

...People talk about our having an influence...

...I think we are agreed that if we remain in NATO there are many changes we should like to see made...

...a long way away...

...The implication is that we go to NATO, to the Western alliance, and say, "Give up your nuclear weapons unilaterally, even if the Soviet Union retains theirs: and if you do not, we withdraw from the alliance...

...What is going to be the effect of that...

...You have to think of these things: they are real possibilities in the world as it is today...

...have thought of it only in those terms...

...Finally, we all agree that we want peace...

...and you will remember what he said: "You would never use nuclear weapons because to do so would involve blowing out your own brains...

...That is our case—the case against unilateralism, and therefore the case against neutralism...

...I believe it to be profoundly true that if either America or Russia, either the West or the Soviet bloc, were to abandon their nuclear weapons unilaterally they would place themselves at the mercy of the other side...

...We are agreed that we want to do everything we can to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons within, as well as outside, the Western alliance...

...As has recently been said—though I have said it myself some time ago—if the Japanese had had atomic weapons in 1945, do you think that President Truman would have authorized the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima...

...There is no doubt about Russia's attitude on this...

...It would be an appalling insult for any member of the Labor party to say of any other that he wanted war...

...that must be a decision of governments...

...On the grounds that I believe to be right— namely, that the possession by Britain of nuclear weapons, apart from the question of the possession by the West of nuclear weapons, was justified, and indeed could only be justified, because it gave us, as it did, a certain degree of additional independence from the United States...

...as I have said, disarmament of national states and a world government...

...I know some who would say : "Well, we are...

...I think at least we can say that, because of our efforts, a British Prime Minister did make an attempt, even if it was only the election that made him do it...

...Now you might conceivably interpret the phrase as meaning no more than our policy decision that Britain in the future should no longer be an independent nuclear power...

...I know that you can say: "Well, that is all right...

...It is probably the more likely one, and it is that the alliance will go on without Britain in it...

...Of course, there are some people who would like that—we know there are...

...But there is a conclusion you draw from that, and it is a conclusion which recently, to its credit, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has drawn...

...our own deterrents...

...Khrushchev does not mean any harm...

...or, the United States may say: "Well, we have long-range rockets with which to defend ourselves...

...There is another argument...

...I do not want to see it removed because I believe that this is the best hope we have of building bridges between East and West...

...Suppose it were accepted...

...We are agreed that we need to establish clearly and firmly that it is not for the generals to decide whether or not nuclear weapons should be used...

...True, is it not...

...I ended that passage of my speech by saying that this was not, in my opinion, a matter of principle but a matter of the balance of arguments, economic, military and technical, on which a cool re-examination and reappraisal was certainly necessary from time to time...

...I think we all were right to feel threatened...

...The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is right when it says that we looked upon this as a practical issue...

...They were glad enough to see them in in 1942...

...They do not usually quote the other things I say...

...Well, all I can say is this: We believe that the West must retain nuclear weapons so long as the Soviet Union has them...

...We are agreed that in the future Britain should not attempt to produce and provide her own effective nuclear weapons...

...What is the other alternative...

...I do not complain...

...Prior to the vote, however, Hugh Gaitskell delivered an impassioned address opposing this stand, and we present an adaptation of it here...

...Yes, that is true—provided the power of the other chap to retaliate exists...

...But if you were to go to the countries in NATO and say to them: "Please give up your nuclear weapons," we all know quite well that they would refuse to do it...

...The issue came to a head last month at the Labor conference at Scarborough, where the party's left wing succeeded in having the unilateralist position adopted...

...If you are a unilateralist on principle, you are driven into becoming a neutralist, you are driven to becoming one of those who wish us to withdraw from NATO...

...I do not pretend, I repeat, that we reached this decision because we looked on it as a matter of principle...

...But if this theory applies to Russia, if he believes that the possibility of retaliation deters the United States or the West from attacking the Soviet Union, why should we not apply the theory the other way around...

...Are they going to take the line that all they want to do is to get rid of what they regard as the moral discredit attached to Britain's having these weapons, while they can get the security they want because America has them...

...But I will say this: I have never taken the view that the decision made originally by the Labor Government in 1945 to manufacture our own atom bomb, or the decisions which followed, were the kind of things which involved us in a matter of principle...

...And when you speak of threatening to use nuclear weapons, he is not averse to threatening from time to time...

...I want first to deal with what I believe to be the issues of principle...

...And on what grounds did I defend it...

...WHAT IS the case against neutralism...

...ON WHAT...

...But I accept and wholly agree that, that decision having been taken, it would be ridiculous for us to attempt to produce what in effect will be the only efficient nuclear weapons in the future, missiles...

...I do not think the unilateralists disagree with us on that...

...What is the case against our withdrawal from NATO—our going it alone...

...What does this mean—unilateral disarmament by Britain...

...We do not disagree on whether we want to see the end of the H-bomb and all nuclear weapons, and indeed of all armaments everywhere...

...And now let us deal with it...

...That is the argument...

...There may be some members of the party who, when reading or thinking about or discussing unilateral nuclear disarmament by Britain...

...Of course, the break-up of the alliance will leave the individual countries of Western Europe exposed to any threat or pressure from the Soviet Union...

...No, I agree...

...I think the behavior of the Soviet Union under Stalin was quite sufficient to justify an attempt at creating a unity in the West...

...We are agreed, for example, that it was wrong—and is wrong—that Western Germany should have nuclear weapons...

...Khrushchev has himself repeatedly advocated the value of deterrence as far as Russia is concerned...

...It could happen—if we were alone and had nothing to defend ourselves with...

...then, do we disagree...

...And I say this to you: If you could have created that alliance, if, above all...

...I have not forgotten—because they were some of the worst years through which we lived—the awful period of the '30s...

...I do not believe that the policy of the Soviet Union is incautious...

...The United Kingdom, if it could be brought within the Soviet orbit by threats, would be a tremendous triumph for Russia...

...I am not going to apologize because before the abandonment of Blue Streak I stood by the policy of our own independent weapons...

...So you are proposing that we should tell NATO, America and the West to do without nuclear weapons...

...I want no misunderstanding about this...

...So I have...

...Now I do not want any misunderstanding about this...

...I do not believe that Khrushchev has any intention of deliberately starting an aggressive war in present circumstances...

...But I do not think that those who most passionately advocate this policy mean only that...

...But those who advocate unilateral nuclear disarmament by Britain on grounds of principle are bound to ask themselves these questions: Are they then taking the line—to use Ted Hill's words—that we have nothing to do with nuclear weapons but that nevertheless we remain within a NATO alliance which possesses these weapons...

...But I do believe that if you give them the opportunity of advancing the cause they believe in without cost or serious risk to themselves, they will not reject the opportunity...

...It may be that the whole alliance will break up...

...They surely must see that the only ultimate solution must come along that road...

...But without it, no...

...Are we really so simple as to believe that the Soviet Union, whose belief in the ultimate triumph of world Communism is continually reiterated by its spokesmen, is not going to use the power you put into its hands if you do unilaterally disarm in this way...