PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
NEGOTIATIONS FOR A COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY (11 July 1994)

That this House views with alarm the lack of progress towards a comprehensive test ban treaty at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva; shares with governments of the United States of America, the Russian Federation, Germany, all members of the Non-Aligned Movement and many other states the conviction that a comprehensive test ban treaty can be concluded by the end of 1994 or April 1995, when the future of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty will be decided; notes that, in addition to providing an essential curb to nuclear proliferation, a comprehensive test ban treaty is widely regarded as a litmus test of the nuclear weapon states' commitment to fulfilling their obligations under the treaty; wishes to express its concern in particular at the failure to agree a draft treaty, originally expected to be tabled in June, as the basis for final negotiations; and urges the Government, while there is still time, to throw the considerable weight of the United Kingdom as a nuclear weapon state behind the aspiration of the great majority of the United Kingdom's allies and the wider international community for an early treaty.

Sponsored by:
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)