§ 36. Mr. Norman Atkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he is satisfied that the verification of nuclear weapons is not a stumbling block to further progress made in the current disarmament talks.
§ 48. Mr. Chapmanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will report 457W further progress made in the last month at the various disarmament conferences, including the mutual and balanced force reductions talks in Vienna.
§ Mr. LuceAt the conference on disarmament in Geneva discussion has continued on a wide range of subjects, including the negotiation of a complete ban on chemical weapons to which the United Kingdom attaches priority. In the first session—which ended on 16 March—of the Stockholm conference Western countries have continued to explain and promote the proposals tabled on 24 January. With the exception of Romania, members of the Warsaw pact have not made formal proposals. A group of neutral and non-aligned countries tabled their ideas on 9 March. Detailed negotiations have yet to begin. The Russians withdrew from INF and START last year. MBFR resumed only on 16 March as the East was unable to agree to the earlier date proposed by the West at the end of the last round.