This government has constantly reiterated its desire for world-wide nuclear disarmament and is well-placed to take a lead towards this end.

  Terms of reference 1 and 4 of the inquiry mention "the progress and effectiveness of non-proliferation regimes, specifically the non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), the proposed Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT) and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM)" and the "effectiveness of the main non-proliferation regimes" verification and enforcement procedures."

  There is no room for complacency or neglect of the issues by political leaders. The progress and effectiveness of non-proliferation regimes since the last major NPT Review Conference in 1995 has not been good. India and Pakistan, not signatories to the NPT, have both tested nuclear devices; there are strong suspicions that Iraq, Iran and North Korea aspire to become nuclear capable. US adherence to treaties is crumbling, China has modernised her nuclear arsenals and Russia has tested new TOPOL missiles. The Guardian (13 January 2000) reports that Acting President Vladimir Putin has decreed a new national security strategy. Its more confrontational attitude to the West, saying that nuclear weapons can now be used in response to conventional attack (a policy already adopted by NATO), is sparked partly by NATO's eastwards expansion and the perceived US aim to use its military might to dominate the world.

  Term of Reference number 5 talks of the UK's role in encouraging non-signatory states to sign appropriate treaties and in improving the monitoring of compliance with treaty obligations.

  India and Pakistan are unlikely to sign the NPT, and non-nuclear NPT signatories are increasingly unlikely to abide by it, until they see some movement from the nuclear states to honour their agreements under Article 6 to "pursue negotiations on good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament."