Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2017 to Question 66495, what steps he plans to take to communicate with the participants at the organisational meeting on negotiating a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons on 16 February 2017, and the substantive negotiations starting on 27 March 2017 on that subject; and whether he plans to make a statement after the conclusion of those negotiations.

We discuss nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament frequently with a wide range of partners, amongst them states attending these negotiations. In such discussions we have been clear about our opposition to this move to negotiate a treaty banning nuclear weapons for the reasons we have set out to this House. The first Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference will take place in Vienna in May and we will use that forum to engage with a wide range of states on how we can together tackle the challenges we face on non-proliferation and disarmament, and enable access to the peaceful use of nuclear technology.