Forthcoming Meeting Of The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

EDM number 1008 in 2002-03, proposed by Alan Simpson on 03/04/2003.

That this House welcomes the forthcoming Preparatory Committee meeting for the 2005 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which will take place in Geneva from 28th April to 9th May; recalls the June 2000 written parliamentary answer by the Right honourable Member for Neath, the then Foreign and Commonwealth Minister of State, that 'The unequivocal undertaking to the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals contained in the final document of the 2000 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference is the most explicit pledge ever made by the Nuclear Weapon States to work for complete global nuclear disarmament'; further recalls the December 2001 Foreign Affairs Committee report on United Kingdom and United States relations, which states 'The Treaty is currently leaking; and we recommend that the Government works in the closest conjunction with the United States Administration to devise further specific and effective measures to enforce this crucial arms control agreement. The Committee expects to receive from the Government details of such measures'; is unaware of such specific and effective measures, which may have been provided or taken by the Government; is aware that the stated reason for the current war in Iraq is to disarm Saddam Hussein of weapons of mass destruction; regrets that the United Kingdom and the other four declared nuclear weapons states in addition to India, Pakistan, Israel and possibly North Korea, still maintain their nuclear arsenals; and urges Her Majesty's Government to abandon the selective use of military force as a disarmament policy and to take the lead not only to get rid of its nuclear arsenals, but also to support multilateral, diplomatic and non-discriminatory disarmament, which is the only way to ensure international peace and security.

This motion has been signed by a total of 36 MPs.