Cross-party delegation will talk with their US counterparts.
From next Tuesday (8 September 2009), the most senior cross-party parliamentary delegation focused on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation ever to visit Washington will be holding talks with key Senators and administration officials. Their meetings come at a critical and timely juncture with:
- Obama to chair a special session of the Security Council on 24 September on the way forward for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation;
- the first ever summit of leaders March 2010 to consider nuclear security;
- the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference in May 2010;
- the Obama Administration in the throes of considering its nuclear posture by the end of this year;
- US and Russian negotiators considering a follow-on to START;
- Senatorial wheels starting to move in relation to Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty ratification;
- an election looming in the UK next year amid deliberations on Trident renewal.
Members of the delegation will be sharing their views on disarmament prospects and discussing future initiatives and possible cooperation at a joint BASIC-Carnegie event from 9.00-10.30a.m. on 9 September which is open to the press. To register go to: carnegieendowment.org/
Individual members of the delegation, which includes former Labour defence secretary Des Browne, Conservative opposition minister for foreign affairs David Lidington, and the joint conveners of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Security and Non-Proliferation, Tony Lloyd and Lord Hannay of Chiswick, will be available until 11 September for interview. Paul Ingram, the executive director of BASIC, which is coordinating the visit, is accompanying the delegation to Washington and will be available also for comment.