§ 28. Mr. Chapmanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on recent initiatives to promote balanced, verifiable multilateral disarmament.
§ Mr. HurdRecent statements made by the Government in this House and elsewhere have drawn attention to the range of the West's proposals for arms control and disarmament. These include the United State's proposals for the complete elimination of the intermediate-range nuclear missiles of most concern to NATO and the Soviet Union, and for substantial reductions in the numbers of warheads on the strategic ballistic missiles of the United States and the Soviet Union. In the non-nuclear field the alliance has submitted a comprehensive draft treaty in the mutual and balanced force reductions talks. The United Kingdom, with the support of other Western States, is also seeking, through discussions in the Committee on Disarmament, progress on the verification of a ban on the production of chemical weapons.
§ 36. Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the Government's future intentions and what initiatives they plan following the second special session on disarmament in the United Nations.
§ Mr. HurdThe Government will continue to work for balanced and verifiable arms control and disarmament agreements which will maintain peace and security at lower levels of armaments and forces. We will act directly in the negotiations and discussions in which we participate, in Vienna or in the Committee on Disarmament, and indirectly through consultations in NATO.