Nuclear Non - Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee

EDM number 1954 in 1992-93, proposed by John Hutton on 05/05/1993.

That this House, noting that the first preparatory Committee for the 1995 Extension Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York on 10th to 14th May, and acknowledging that without careful consultation and full discussion of the issues before the Conference, the chances of securing indefinite extension of the Treaty will be greatly and needlessly damaged; views with alarm the Government's decision, at a time when North Korea's apparent withdrawal from the NPT places the entire Treaty in peril, to discuss only procedural matters; maintains it is not possible to discuss procedures without discussing the objectives in mind and the conditions that need to be met to reach that goal; is deeply worried that the Government will miss a valuable opportunity to examine and assess the demands that will be made on the United Kingdom and the other nuclear weapons states in 1995; considers that there are eight main issues which the nuclear weapons states must indicate a willingness to debate and consult on; identifies these issues as nuclear testing, fissile material production, no-first-use guarantees, security assurances, the role of the IAEA, reductions in existing nuclear arsenals and re-affirming the ultimate object of complete nuclear disarmament; and suggests that allowing for adequate discussion of all these issues between now and 1995 should be regarded by the Government as the key 'procedural' task of the New York Preparatory Committee.

This motion has been signed by a total of 68 MPs.