Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response the United Kingdom delegates to the amendment conference for the partial nuclear test ban treaty in January made to the criticisms of United Kingdom policy of continued nuclear warhead testing put forward by the Mauritius, Brazilian and Pakistan delegations.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe head of the United Kingdom delegation to the conference made clear our position: because our security will depend for the foreseeable future on deterrence based in part on the possession of nuclear weapons, we have continuing need to test our nuclear weapons to ensure that they remain effective and up to date.
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response was made by the United Kingdom delegation to the amendment conference for the partial nuclear test ban treaty held in January, to the proposals submitted in draft for a verification protocol II to the partial nuclear test ban treaty to assist in the completion of a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggWe made it clear at the conference that we do not believe that a comprehensive test ban could be properly verified. We believe that the conference on disarmament at Geneva provides the most appropriate forum for discussion of progress on nuclear testing issues.