§ Lord BrockwayMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government on what grounds the United Kingdom representative at the Committee on Disarmament at Geneva, supported by the representative of the United States of America, opposed the proposal of the majority committee of 21 of unaligned nations that a working group should be established to facilitate the conclusion of a treaty prohibiting underground tests of nuclear weapons.
§ The Earl of AvonMy Lords, we recognise the widespread international interest in the test ban negotiations. But we do not at present believe that a working group on this subject in the Committee on Disarmament would be likely to advance the prospects for a treaty, until the negotiating nuclear weapon states have reached a greater measure of agreement on an issue which is vital to their security.
§ Lord BrockwayMy Lords, while thanking the Minister for that reply, may I ask whether a working party would not actually offer aid to the tripartite discussions which are going on, and be complementary to those discussions and service those discussions? Is the Minister aware that the other three nuclear powers—other than America and Britain—have all accepted this proposal? Is he aware that at Geneva the Soviet Union said that it had no objections, and it is part of the tripartite discussions? Is he aware that France indicated that it would accept the proposal, although it would not participate, owing to the general policy? Has he seen the statement from China last week accepting the proposal? Three out of five of the nuclear powers have accepted it.
§ The Earl of AvonMy Lords, I understand that the Russians would agree to a working group, provided that all the five nuclear weapon states participate. They do however agree that the confidentiality of the tripartite negotiations should be preserved. I do not have the noble Lord's advance notice of either the Chinese or the French reaction.