HC Deb 03 March 1982 vol 19 cc265-6
15. Mr. Chapman

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will make a statement on the progress of preparations for the United Nations special session on disarmament beginning on 7 June 1982.

Mr. Hurd

The preparatory committee for the special session, of which we are a member, has drawn up the agenda for it. The preparatory committee's final meeting will be held in April and May, when it will conclude its procedural business and possibly begin discussion of substantive issues.

Mr. Chapman

I recognise that there is an international agreement of sorts to ban the use of chemical weapons, but does my right hon. Friend agree that that ban would be much more effective if there were also an agreement to ban the manufacturing and the stockpiling of such offensive weapons? Will Her Majesty's Government use their good influence to promote that as an objective at the forthcoming special session?

Mr. Hurd

My hon. Friend is right. There is a great deal of worry about chemical weapons. That is why Her Majesty's Government put forward the criterion for verification in the Committee on Disarmament on 18 February. Everyone who looks at the matter realises that satisfactory verification measures are the key to stopping the manufacture and stockpiling of chemical weapons. We have taken an initiative that we hope will be useful.

Mr. George Robertson

Is the Minister aware of the deep concern among—indeed the affront to—British people that a meeting of NATO Ministers has been called to coincide with the start of the special session on disarmament? Given the great public interest that exists throughout the world in the possibilities of success of the special session of disarmament, will Her Majesty's Government use all the influence in their power to get the NATO Heads of State meeting rescheduled to a more appropriate time?

Mr. Hurd

That is a weak point. The NATO summit will last for two days, and the special session for more than a month. I should be surprised if the NATO summit did not address itself to arms control in the same way as NATO Heads of State have done in the past.