§ Lord Mayhewasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the written reply of Baroness Young of 30th April (col. 381) what questions other than concern over verification would need to be addressed were negotiations on a test ban treaty to resume; and whether they include the need for the United Kingdom or the United States to continue testing.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Young)Any negotiations would also need to deal with such difficult questions as scope, duration and compliance. Verification remains a key issue; resumption of negotiations would be premature until there is progress on that. The United Kingdom conducts tests in order to maintain the effectiveness of our nuclear defence capabilities. How that would be done under a comprehensive test ban treaty will remain a hypothetical question until negotiations are resumed with other parties, and the issues I have mentioned have been satisfactorily resolved.