Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their priorities for the UN Open Ended Working Group on nuclear disarmament, taking place from 22 to 26 February, and what expertise the UK can offer on issues of non-proliferation.

The UK is not attending the Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) on nuclear disarmament in Geneva. The UK, along with the four other Non-Proliferation Treaty Nuclear Weapons States, voted against the resolution establishing the OEWG at the UN General Assembly First Committee. The Government works with international partners and various organisations to ensure that UK experience and expertise helps to tackle the threat of weapons proliferation but believes that productive results can only be ensured through a consensus-based approach that takes into account the wider global security environment.