Skip to main content

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Volume 199: debated on Thursday 28 November 1991

The text on this page has been created from Hansard archive content, it may contain typographical errors.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the policy of the British Government on the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty.

NATO's new strategic concept confirms the need to maintain an appropriate mix of conventional and nuclear forces for the forseeable future. For as long as we need to retain nuclear weapons to deter war, we will need to conduct nuclear tests to ensure that our weapons are safe, reliable and up-to-date.A comprehensive test ban treaty therefore remains a long-term goal. Progress towards it can be made only by a step-by-step approach, taking account of developments elsewhere, especially in arms control. Any treaty in this field will have to address the enormous verification problems. We are therefore taking a leading role in the conference on disarmament in Geneva, which is considering a verification regime covering nuclear tests.