Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to part 3.1 of the policy paper Global Britain in a Competitive Age, the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, published on 16 March, what "doctrinal threats" they believe would warrant a nuclear response.

I can assure the Rt. Rev Prelate the Lord Bishop that the UK would consider using nuclear weapons only in the most extreme circumstances of self-defence, including the defence of our NATO Allies. While our resolve and capability to do so if necessary is beyond doubt, to avoid simplifying the calculations of potential adversaries, we will remain deliberately ambiguous about precisely when, how and at what scale we would contemplate the use of our nuclear weapons.