I am writing to you today because I believe
that it is the right moment to submit my concerns to the Foreign
Affairs Select Committee Inquiry into Weapons of Mass Destruction.
I should firstly state that I see no reason
why weapons of mass destruction should be maintained as part of
the arsenal of any state and there can be no justification for
their use as confirmed by the World Court decision.
The government has constantly stated its desire
to ensure worldwide nuclear disarmament and it is only appropriate
that it takes a lead to achieve this goal but complacency and
neglect of these issues has been a feature of political leadership
recently. The Non-Proliferation Treaty is an example of this:
India and Pakistan have both tested nuclear devices and it is
widely believed that Iraq, Iran, North Korea and Israel aspire
to become nuclear capable, if they are not so already. The United
States' adherence to treaties is crumbling (their refusal to ratify
the CTBT is evidence of this), China is modernising its nuclear
arsenal and Russia has tested new TOPOL missiles.
To ensure that India, Pakistan and non-nuclear
NPT signatories sign the NPT, the nuclear states need to honour
their agreements under Article 6 to "pursue negotiations
in good faith on effective measures relating to the cessation
of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament".
The best way to encourage the non-signatory states is to comply
with both the spirit and the letter of treaties to which the UK
is signatory. The choice should not be between proliferation and
non-proliferation but between proliferation and disarmament.
It is time for the UK government to "put
its money where its mouth is" by playing an active role in
nuclear disarmament instead of the lip-service that it has paid
up until now.