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UK denies nuclear cooperation with France breaches NPT

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Nov 10, IRNA -- The British government has denied that last-week’s 50-year nuclear deal with France breaches the Non-proliferation Treaty.

“The arrangement with the French is entirely consistent with our obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty,” Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said.

“It is designed to ensure that we safeguard the reliability and maintenance of our nuclear weapons stockpile, and it makes sense,” Burt said.

He also insisted that Britain was “proceeding, through the non-proliferation treaty talks, towards a world of disarmament, and maintaining our nuclear capability and signing the treaty in no way belies that undertaking.”

The minister was answering questions in parliament on Tuesday, including from Labour MP Cathy Jamieson, who asked what recent representations the government has received on the UK's obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

Jamieson, who is a former justice minister in the Scottish government, also asked if there were any concerns the French nuclear deal “undermines in any way our commitment to achieving nuclear disarmament at an early date,” as outlined in article VI of the NPT.

Article VI requires countries to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to “cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date” and to complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.

Last week, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) also cautioned the UK government on its compliance with Article One of the NPT, which expressly forbids transfers in relation to nuclear explosive devices.

“It is vital that this treaty is scrutinised in the light of Article 1. But the fundamental point that both Britain and France have to recognise and act upon is that the NPT - to which they are signatories - requires both of them to disarm,” CND chair Kate Hudson said.

Under the agreement, Britain will ship its 160 'Trident' strategic nuclear missiles to France for maintenance and repair, while the two countries will work together to simulate nuclear tests.

Such an arrangement was also seen bringing into question Britain’s special relationship with the US and its total dependence on Washington to have a nuclear deterrent.

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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30068403