§ 3.32 p.m.
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (LORD SHEPHERD)My Lords, with permission I will now repeat a Statement which is being made in another place by my right honourable friend the Minister of State. It is as follows:
"As the House knows Her Majesty's Government consider it vitally important to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons by bringing the non-proliferation treaty into force at an early date. As foreshadowed in the Queen's Speech, and in order to give renewed impetus to the treaty, we are to-day depositing our instruments of ratification. We hope that other States will follow our example as soon as possible."
THE EARL OF BESSBOROUGHMy Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Lord for having repeated that Statement in your Lordships' House. May I ask him how the ratification of this treaty will, generally speaking, affect our relations with NATO? Can he also say what the attitudes of the Governments of the United States of America and Germany are to this? Have they ratified, or do they intend to ratify? I understand that certain people in the United States of America and in Germany may think that in view of the crisis this summer the time is not right for ratification. Also, could the noble Lord say whether the Government feel that the inspection 1221 arrangements are satisfactory and that in the case of the new European Nuclear Fuel Consortium the proposals which have been made for the production of cheaper enriched uranium for electric power will not be abused?
§ LORD GLADWYNMy Lords, I likewise wish to associate myself with the noble Earl, Lord Bessborough, in thanking the Government for the Statement; and I am sure we must all hope that our example will now be followed by other States. I should like to hear from the Minister what prospect there is of early ratifications (apart from signatures), and I should also like to know whether he does not think that the recent conference at The Hague between ourselves and the Germans and the Dutch showed that the production of enriched uranium is now going to be made much cheaper than it was. Is not this therefore an additional reason for pressing for ratification by all concerned of the nonproliferation treaty?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, I am grateful for the welcome given by the noble Earl, Lord Bessborough, and by the noble Lord, Lord Gladwyn, to this Statement. In reply to the first question put by the noble Earl in regard to NATO, my right honourable friend reaffirmed our continuing and wholehearted commitment to the collective security arrangements of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in another place on July 8. He also made clear that the treaty would not prohibit North Atlantic Treaty Organisation nuclear consultation and planning, bilateral arrangements for the deployment of nuclear weapons within allied territory, or the succession of a federated State to the former nuclear status of one of its components.
The noble Lord, Lord Gladwyn, is right in thinking that there are a number of countries which so far have not felt able to sign the treaty. Germany, of course, is one, and we fully understand the particular concern of Germany in this matter. In the case of the United States of America the Senate has now gone into what I think is called "recess". It has not been able to give its advice and consent in regard to this treaty, but the noble Earl will know that the Foreign Relations Committee gave strong support, with a good majority, for the recommended ratification of the treaty, and we 1222 hope that shortly the United States Senate will be able to give its approval.
In the matter of inspection, clearly there are difficulties, but we believe that the arrangements which have been made, particularly for the International Atomic Energy Agency, should prove satisfactory. In regard to the question of the production of enriched uranium and the recent conference at The Hague, I understand that there is no inherent incompatibility, and it has been agreed with those countries with whom we are considering the possibilities of establishing collaborative arrangements that any such arrangement will have to be consistent with the policies of the three Governments in relation to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. The essential requirement is that uranium enriched by this method should not be used by non-nuclear weapon States for nuclear weapon purposes. We think that this arrangement will suffice, but clearly it will be a matter for continued observation.
§ My Lords, I think that answers all the questions that were put to me.
§ LORD GLADWYNMy Lords, may I ask an additional question? I understand we have made it clear that in our view if there is ever a united Europe the provisions of this treaty will not necessarily apply to that. In other words, one could have a nuclear Europe provided only that it was united. Am I right in thinking that the other prospective signatories all share that view?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, to be quite honest I should not like to answer that question without notice. But it is clear that while we maintain responsibility for these weapons under the treaty we must see that they are not passed to other non-nuclear countries.
§ LORD RITCHIE-CALDERMy Lords, may ask whether, in the light of the discussions at The Hague, it is not all the more urgent that we do in fact press for a non-proliferation treaty, because, as I understand it, the discussions, however they are safeguarded in the arrangements made yesterday, have in fact made a cut-price bargain if ever there was one.
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, I am glad that my noble friend has referred 1223 to that, because there have been long negotiations over many years in order to obtain this particular treaty, and this is only one stage in what I believe everyone hopes will be a wider field of disarmament, and the control of that disarmament.