§ Mrs. Clwydasked the Prime Minister whether she will discuss with Mr. Gorbachev, during her forthcoming visit to Moscow, amending the outer space treaty to include a ban on all testing and orbiting weapons in space.
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§ The Prime MinisterI expect to discuss arms control among a number of other subjects, but I have no plans to discuss detailed modifications to existing multilateral treaties.
§ Mrs. Clwydasked the Prime Minister whether she will urge Mr. Gorbachev, on her forthcoming visit to Moscow, to accept the verification procedures submitted by the United Kingdom with regard to a chemical weapons treaty.
§ The Prime MinisterI expect to discuss a wide range of subjects with Mr. Gorbachev, including arms control, human rights, regional and bilateral issues. I hope that the latest United Kingdom verification proposals can provide the basis for substantial further progress in the Geneva chemical weapons negotiations.
§ Mrs. Clwydasked the Prime Minister whether she will make it her policy to ask Mr. Gorbachev to halt the improvement in Soviet anti-ballistic missile defences in return for a freeze at 64 on the number of the United Kingdom's strategic nuclear weapon launchers.
§ The Prime MinisterOur position on the relationship of the British deterrent to the arms control process remains as set out by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in a statement to the United Nations general assembly in September 1983, and repeated in the House on a number of occasions. The action on the part of the Soviet Union suggested by the hon. Member would not meet the criteria that we have set out.