NUCLEAR WEAPONS FREE WORLD

That this House welcomes the compelling argument, Start worrying and learn to ditch the bomb, by former Conservative foreign secretaries, Lord Hurd of Westwell and the right hon. Member for Kensington and Chelsea, former Labour Foreign Secretary Lord Owen, and former Labour Defence Secretary and recent former NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, published in The Times on 30th June 2008; notes that this argument follows two similar arguments developed by former US secretaries of state, Dr Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, former US Defense Secretary William Perry and former US Senator Sam Nunn, published over the past 18 months in the Wall Street Journal; congratulates The Times authors for recognising the increasing dangers of nuclear weapons and the related concerns over nuclear proliferation, declaring that the ultimate aspiration should be to have a world free of nuclear weapons and calling for a dramatic reduction in the world's nuclear weapons; recognises the close UK/US co-operation on nuclear weapons programmes which significantly contributes to nuclear dangers; and therefore calls on the Government to heed this call by taking specific practical steps, including supporting a nuclear weapons convention, and reversing the decision on Trident replacement, in order to significantly contribute to the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.