When I voted for Labour at the last election I believed that the party had a commitment to nuclear disarmament. Some progress has been made in Europe, but the refusal of the United States to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was a serious setback. I hope the UK will maintain pressure on the US to ratify this Treaty.

  The UK could help the progress towards the proposed Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty by agreeing to allow current stocks of plutonium to be covered by the treaty.

  The existence of too many non-signatory states to the CTBT is extremely dangerous for world safety. I believe that the best way to encourage these states to sign is for the UK to comply with both the letter and the spirit of treaties to which we are signatories. India and Pakistan are unlikely to sign the Non-proliferation Treaty, and non-nuclear NPT signatories are increasingly unlikely to abide by it, until they see some movement from the nuclear states to honour their agreement under Article 6 to "pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament". I hope this government will show that it is serious about nuclear disarmament.