British last-minute contribution to the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference
BASIC Press Release
Wednesday, 26 May 2010 - IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The new British government's announcement
today of a total limit of 225 nuclear warheads is to be welcomed
as a next step in the transparency and disarmament process,
said Paul Ingram, Executive Director of the British American
Security Information Council (BASIC). "Britain, by following
the example of the United States and France in such a transparency
measure concerning their nuclear arsenals, will help encourage
Russia and China to follow suit," said Ingram. "However, Britain
needs to show more confidence and flexibility in disarmament
negotiations at the NPT Review Conference, where recent negotiations
appear to have been hampered by a stubborn attachment to current
nuclear postures within the nuclear weapon states."
He was commenting on the statement by William
Hague, Foreign Secretary, delivered in the House of Commons
that the United Kingdom's stockpile of nuclear weapons will
not exceed 225 (the previous government had announced a total
of 160 warheads in the operational stockpile only). The speech
coincided with the final days of negotiations at the Review
Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which ends
on Friday.
Hague also referred in his speech to a forthcoming
review of Britain's declaratory policy - its open policy on
the circumstances in which the United Kingdom may use its
nuclear arsenal. The recent nuclear posture review in the
United States gave clear security guarantees to non-nuclear
weapon states in compliance with the NPT, and it seems likely
the United Kingdom is considering a similar guarantee. Ingram
said: "The announced review of declaratory policy is
very welcome. It will also give the new government the chance
to visit for its own satisfaction the reasons why Britain
is continuing to deploy nuclear weapons, and to contribute
to the global disarmament agenda by reducing the salience
of its nuclear weapons in its defence posture."
Contact:
Paul Ingram, Executive Director
United Kingdom: +44 (0)7908 708175
pingram (at) basicint.org
Anne Penketh, Program Director
United States: +1 202-570-6701
apenketh (at) basicint.org
ENDS
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