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.