Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:07 pm on 18th May 2000.
My Lords, I am puzzled by this Question from my noble friend. The Canberra Commission did indeed consider the merits of proposing a precise timeframe for the elimination of nuclear weapons, but, after careful thought, decided not to do so. We believe that it was right to reach that conclusion. We remain convinced that the best way to make progress towards nuclear disarmament is by pursuing achievable, incremental steps forward. Given the complexity and difficulty of the issues involved, we do not believe that the adoption of a timed plan would in practice be likely to hasten the achievement of this goal.