Des Browne’s speech

UK Secretary of Defence Des Browne addressed the Conference of Disarmament on February 5, announcing the call to fellow nuclear weapon states to send technical experts to a conference in London to discuss how they might cooperate to develop verification methods for future disarmament agreements.

In a particularly interesting paragraph he said:

Our chances of eliminating nuclear weapons will be enhanced immeasurably if the Non-Nuclear Weapon States can see forward planning, commitment and action toward multilateral nuclear disarmament by Nuclear Weapon States. Without this, we risk generating the perception that the Nuclear Weapon States are failing to fulfil their disarmament obligations and this will be used by some states as an excuse for their nuclear intransigence.

He talked of the need for states to achieve further deep cuts in their arsenals, to rapidly ratify a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty for it to come into force, and to agree a Fissile Material Cut Off Treaty; these are essential steps to realise the obligations nuclear weapon states are under.

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