British Leader to Call for A Nuclear-Free England

The leader of Britain's Labor Party will call for a nuclear-free United Kingdom tonight at the Kennedy School, spokesmen said yesterday.

Neil Kinnock, opposition leader of the British Parliament, plans to convince tonight's audience at the Institute of Politics (IOP) that total elimination of England's nuclear arsenal and withdrawal of U.S. nuclear forces from great Britain would not threaten the security of Europe.

The Labor Party leader has said previously that if he were elected he would use the money now spent on nuclear weapons to strengthen conventional forces.

Kinnock plans to run as the Labor Party's candidate for Prime Minister in Britain's next general elections, to be held sometime before 1988.

Kinnock has led the resurgence of the Labor Party since its 1983 defeat by Prime Minister Margret Thatcher's Conservative Party. A recent Gallup poll indicated that the Labor party now leads the Conservatives by three-and-one-half percent. As incumbent Prime Minister, Thatcher decides when to hold elections.

Current North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) strategy for the defense of Europe rests on the threat of nuclear retaliation. According tothis philosophy of deterrence, NATO would respondto any successful conventional attack by usingnuclear weapons against its opponents.

Kinnock hopes to reconcile a hostile ReaganAdministration to the Labor Party's recentlyannounced nuclear disarmament program, said DillonProfessor of International Affairs Joseph S. Nye.The Administration has been skeptical of NATO'sability to defend Europe without nuclear weapons.

"The point of this trip is to calm the watersof American perception about the future of NATO,"said Paul Bograd, associate director of the IOP.

British audiences will be watching Americanreaction to tonight's speech very closely because,according to an article in The Economist, someBritons fear that Kinnock's disarmament policymight prompt the U.S. to withdraw from itscommitment to defend England.

Tonight's speech will be Kinnock's onlydiscussion of his plan for a nuclear-free U.K.during his week-long tour of the U.S., accordingto Andrea T. Bernstein, a public relations expertfor Kinnock. Kinnock is also visiting Atlanta, NewYork and Washington, D.C.

"Great Britain can't declare itself a nuclearfree zone without having a great impact on therest of NATO," said Robert J. Murray, director ofthe Kennedy School's National Security Program."Given the New Zealand experience, [their fear ofU.S. withdrawal] is natural."

The United States withdrew from an alliancewith New Zealand two years ago when New Zealandbanned U.S. warships and submarines carryingnuclear weapons from entering its ports