Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (Hansard, 27 November 1996)

§ 5. Mr. Llew Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in preparing draft legislation in respect of a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. [4590]

§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. David Davis)
Following the commitment in the Queen's Speech to ratification of the comprehensive test ban treaty, preliminary work on the preparation of legislation has begun.

§ Mr. Smith
For the comprehensive test ban treaty to come into force, it obviously needs the support of countries such as India. Can the Minister not understand India's reluctance to sign when it sees that we are not serious about nuclear disarmament but are developing our nuclear weapons, particularly Trident, and when just this weekend we launched another Trident submarine?

§ Mr. Davis
To my surprise, the hon. Gentleman is remarkably uninformed on the matter. In the past 322 25 years, Britain has reduced the explosive power of its nuclear weapons by some half and the number of warheads by about 21 per cent. In that time, several tactical, maritime and land-based systems have been completely removed from operation. In due course, we shall be down to a single system, the absolute minimum deterrent that it is possible for us to have—the Trident system. Any comprehensive test ban treaty should take on board every country that is capable of testing a nuclear weapon, and India is the one country in that category which has refused to sign the treaty.

§ Sir Peter Emery
Following the problems on the Indian continent, I gather that, if India does not sign the treaty, Pakistan will not do so either. As every other nation is willing to move in that direction, should we not put every possible pressure on the Indian and Pakistan Governments to join at the start? Mr. Davis: I understand the point that my hon. Friend is making. The treaty is devised in such a way that it will enter into force when all the relevant countries have agreed. At the moment, seven of the eight countries have signed, so only one remains. My hon. Friend is right: we must get India to sign. That is why, among other reasons, the entry into force mechanism is designed in the way it is, and that is why the vast majority of the United Nations voted for and signed up to that in the negotiation process.