§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Lord Privy Seal if Her Majesty's Government will take an early initiative in the United Nations Committee on Disarmament, either by putting forward constructive amendments to the Soviet draft convention or by proposing an alternative draft; and if Her Majesty's Government will seek to persuade the United States Government to support any such initiative.
§ Mr. HurdNo. The Government remain willing to consider ways of enhancing the political or legal status of our assurance. But we see no prospect of agreement on a common assurance while the Soviet attitude remains unchanged.
§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Lord Privy Seal if Her Majesty's Government will consider introducing either of the following amendments to the United Kingdom's negative security assurances to non-nuclear weapon States: (a) to insert the word "nuclear" before "attack", in the phrase "except in the case of an attack …" or (b) to re-word the text, from "except" onwards, to read
except under threat of a nuclear attack with weapons stationed in the territory of the Negative Security Assurances to non-nuclear weapon States".
§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Lord Privy Seal on what specific occasions since the United Nations Committee on Disarmament was set up, and in what terms, the United 227W Kingdom's representative has sought clarification of the Soviet negative security assurance; and what were the terms of the Soviet explanations.
§ Mr. HurdThe Committee on Disarmament's working group on negative security assurances has been in existence since 1979. It does not issue verbatim records of its proceedings but the Soviet assurance has been examined and discussed, as have the assurances of other nuclear weapon States. The particular question of the operative status of the Soviet assurance was last raised by the United Kingdom ambassador in a plenary meeting of the committee on 19 March. The Soviet representative has not yet replied.
§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Lord Privy Seal whether it is the policy of Her Majesty's Government to accept the importance and urgency of reaching an East-West agreement on negative security assurances.
§ Mr. HurdThe Government accept the importance of giving effective assurances to non-nuclear weapon States. This is why the Government endorse the solemn British assurance given in 1978. Whilst we have no objection in principle to a common assurance, we see little prospect of reaching agreement, given the fundamentally different approaches adopted by East and West.
§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Lord Privy Seal if Her Majesty's Government accept that, in the context of the discussions in the United Nations Committee on Disarmament, the substitution of a clause reading
except under threat of a nuclear attack with weapons stationed in the territory of the Negative Securtiy Assurances to non-nuclear weapon Statesfor the existing "non-stationing" clause in the Soviet negative security assurance would suffice to clarify President Brezhnev's solemn declaration and could serve as a formula on which to build a common international negative security assurance, acceptable to both the nuclear and the non-nuclear weapon States in the non-proliferation treaty.
§ Mr. HurdNo. Such a substitution would do nothing to make the Soviet assurance more acceptable as a draft for a common assurance.