There are several very important international treaties concerned with weapons of mass destruction, 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).

  With regard to the NPT the committee should note that India and Pakistan are unlikely to sign the NPT, and non-nuclear NPT signatories are increasingly unlikely to abide by it until the nuclear states, including the UK, stop reneging on their promise in Article 6 of the Treaty 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".

  With regard to the CTBT the UK has a somewhat better record and it was good to see UK pressure on the US to ratify the Treaty. It is to be hoped that this pressure will be maintained.

  With regard to the FMCT the UK could unblock progress by agreeing to allow current stocks of plutonium to be covered by the treaty. To do otherwise is to call into question the seriousness of a UK desire for nuclear disarmament.

  The US is moving towards a Ballistic Missile Defence System (BMD) which will contravene the ABM Treaty and threaten a new arms race. The committee should note that the UK is encouraging the US to break this treaty by allowing an expansion of the Menwith Hill US Spy Base in Yorkshire to provide essential communications for the BMD.

  The committee should demand that the UK complies with the spirit and the letter of these treaties.