§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will now initiate discussions within the United Nations Committee on Disarmament for a global treaty on "no first use" of nuclear weapons.
§ Mr. Hurd:The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has pledged never to be the first to use any weapon, nuclear or conventional, except in response to attack. The Government do not believe that a global treaty on "no first use" of nuclear weapons would increase international security. In times of tension no reliance could be placed on the provisions of such a treaty. Verification would be impossible. It is better to reduce the number of nuclear weapons.
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§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether new initiatives will be taken by the United Kingdom to achieve a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty, following the United Nations special session on disarmament.
§ Mr. Hurd:We worked hard with others to set up a working group in the Committee on Disarmament to consider the problems of test ban verification and compliance. We should now give priority to the work of this group.