UK Possession Of Nuclear Weapons Of Mass Destruction

EDM number 1101 in 2006-07, proposed by Paul Flynn on 12/03/2007.

That this House recalls that as Defence Secretary, the right hon. Member for Ashfield made a statement on the conditions under which Her Majesty's Government has determined it would be legally permissible under (a) treaty obligations and (b) United Nations Security Council resolutions to use United Kingdom nuclear weapons, saying that `The United Kingdom would, in the right conditions, in extreme circumstances of self-defence, be prepared to use nuclear weapons. We would not use our weapons, whether conventional or nuclear, contrary to international law', 10th April 2002, Official Report, column 30W; notes that this reply is identical to that given by the current Defence Secretary the right hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudon in response to the hon. Member for Newport West, 24th July 2006, Official Report, column 779W, except that the letter added `including those relating to the conduct of armed conflict'; contrasts this reply with what he stated in January 2007 that `The UK has in fact never sought to use our nuclear weapons as a means of provoking or coercing others. We will never do so. Nor are our weapons intended or designed for military use during conflict'; and believes that this demonstrates the illusory folly of the security offered to the United Kingdom by nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

This motion has been signed by a total of 24 MPs.