Written question asked by Tony Benn (Labour) on Monday, 6 December 1999, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 14 December 1999. It was answered by Geoffrey Hoon (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 December 1999 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what briefing the United Kingdom government has received from the US government on its subcritical nuclear test programme. - Inc ref to 1958 UK/US Mutual Defence Agreement.

Answer: Mr. Tony Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what briefing the United Kingdom Government have received from the US Government on their subcritical nuclear test programme. [102128] Mr. Hoon: Under the auspices of the 1958 UK/US Mutual Defence Agreement the UK and the US have regular exchanges on aspects of nuclear warhead stockpile stewardship. These have included briefings on the scope and outcome of US sub-critical experiments carried out at the nevada Test Site. Precise details of these exchanges are being withheld under exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Secondary information