Top Level Group

House of Lords debates Defence, Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and International Development following The Queen’s Speech

toplevelgroup — Wed, 15 May 2013 23:59:00 +0000

On the 5^th day of debates following the Queen’s Speech - which outlined of the government’s policies and proposed legislative agenda for the new parliamentary session - several members of the Top Level Group spoke on the inclusions and omissions relevant to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament laid out for the coming year.

To read their contributions to the debate, please click here.

To read the full debate in the Lords Hansard, please click here.

Talkworks Interviews with Paul Rogers and Martin Rees

toplevelgroup — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:42:15 +0000

Professor Paul Rogers, an international terrorism and global security expert, and Lord Rees of Ludlow, a British scientist and cosmologist, were interviewed by Talkworks about their thoughts on the risks posed by nuclear weapons and the chances for nuclear disarmament.

Professor Rogers addresses the major shift in attitude by those who were once proponents of nuclear weapons and now believe that the world must be nuclear weapons free.

Lord Rees outlines his view on the most pressing nuclear concerns today which include further proliferation of weapons, the proliferation of nuclear power and the stability of regimes who possess nuclear weapons such as India and Pakistan.

BBC Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour programme discussed Trident

toplevelgroup — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:49:41 +0000

On Sunday 14th April, BBC Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour programme featured an item on the future of Britain’s nuclear deterrent, setting out the arguments for and against the renewal of Trident. Interviews ranged from experts and politicians across the political spectrum, including former Liberal Democrat Minister for the Armed Forces Nick Harvey MP, former private secretary to Margaret Thatcher Sir Gerald Howarth MP, and Convenor of the Top Level Group and former Labour Defence Secretary Lord Browne of Ladyton. The programme highlighted the divergence of views on the issue and raised questions on whether like-for-like replacement of Trident is necessary or whether Cold War style nuclear deterrence is outdated in the 21st century.

To listen to this broadcast please click here.

Lord Howe Looks Back on Years with Margaret Thatcher

toplevelgroup — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:24:49 +0000

In an article published in the London Evening Standard, Lord Howe, TLG Member and former Chancellor, Foreign Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister in Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet, reflects on his time with Baroness Thatcher during her premiership.

During his time as Foreign Secretary, he recollects when the Strategic Arms Reductions Talks (START) were being negotiated between the United States and the Soviet Union as well as the first time Baroness Thatcher met Mikhail Gorbachev:

“…I became convinced of the Iron Lady’s sincerity when I presided over her party conference performance in 1983. I heard (and saw) her ad lib three deeply felt sentences: “As I am sure you will understand, there is no one more anxious for genuine disarmament than the person who bears the ultimate responsibility for the nuclear deterrent in our own country. I wanted to say that to you. You will understand how important it is that we try to make those arms reduction talks succeed.”

Margaret’s spontaneity shone through — and for the next year or more we sought a breakthrough. I had no fewer than four meetings with Russia’s dour foreign minister, Andrei Gromyko. Soviet leadership passed, on the death of Andropov, to the feeble cypher Chernenko. Skilful detective work by British diplomats identified the man most likely to succeed him. And so there came about probably the most important meeting in Margaret Thatcher’s career.

Mikhail (and Raisa) Gorbachev arrived at Chequers for lunch on Sunday December 16, 1984. This led straight into four hours of astonishingly direct talking. “We do have to find ways,” said Margaret, “of living together on the same planet.”

The two slipped almost instantly into a pattern of conversation so spontaneous that the process of interpretation became almost invisible. By the end of the day, Margaret had famously identified him as “a man with whom I can do business” (note the “I”).

At the end of that week, in Washington, she persuaded her other soulmate, Ronald Reagan, to take the same view. Her establishment and nurturing of this triangular relationship — and of her own unique influence on the other two protagonists — was her greatest single contribution to the future of our planet.”

To read the full article, please click here.

PM Cameron argues that Britain needs nuclear deterrent

toplevelgroup — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:21:01 +0000

In an editorial in today’s Telegraph, Prime Minister David Cameron outlined why he believes it is necessary to renew Trident. Stating that it would be ‘foolish to leave Britain defenceless against a continuing, and growing, nuclear threat’, the Prime Minister called Trident ‘an insurance policy that the United Kingdom cannot do without’. Addressing the costs of the programme, the Prime Minister states that he believes ‘the security of our nation is worth the price’.

To read the article, please click here.

PM Cameron’s editorial follows a series of recent articles on the renewal of Trident in the British press including:

Labour is right to support Trident by Labour MPs Angela Smith & John Woodcock, Guardian, 31 March 2013

There is no magic alternative to Trident – Britain has got to keep it by John Hutton and George Robertson, 28 February 2013

Discarding Trident would not aid global nuclear disarmament; it would only imperil UK security by Lord West, The Independent, 26 February 2013

Trident is no longer key to Britain’s security by Des Browne and Ian Kearns, The Telegraph, 5 February 2013

House of Lords debate on Nuclear Disarmament and the media coverage, 24 January 2013

Trident: no need for like-for-like replacement, says Danny Alexander, Interview with the Guardian, 22 January 2013

Trident will not protect us by Nick Harvey, The Guardian, 22 January 2013

Building Mutual Security in the Euro-Atlantic Region Report

toplevelgroup — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:34:44 +0000

A report published today by the European Leadership Network, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the Russian International Affairs Council and the Munich Security Conference warns that the Euro-Atlantic Region’s security policies are dangerously out-of-date, potentially destabilizing and costly.

The report “Building Mutual Security in the Euro-Atlantic Region” contains recommendations from more than 30 top military, political and security experts from across Europe, Russia and the United States. It concludes that today’s leaders should move decisively and permanently toward a new security strategy through a politically mandated dialogue and an integrated approach to the full range of security issues.

In each of the six key areas addressed in – nuclear forces, missile defences, prompt-strike forces, conventional forces, cyber-security and space – specific steps are identified to reduce dangers along with a new approach grounded in today’s opportunities and challenges.

The report is published in the names of former US Senator Sam Nunn, former British Defence Secretary and Convenor of the Top Level Group, Des Browne, former Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Igor Ivanov, and Munich Security Conference Chairman and former German Deputy Foreign Minister Wolfgang Ischinger.

The full report, the Co-Chairs’ Summary and a Russian-language version of the report can be found at www.BuildingMutualSecurity.org.

‘Revamping Euro-Atlantic Security’

toplevelgroup — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:31:58 +0000

The International Herald Tribune has today published an article by Des Browne, Wolfgang Ischinger, Igor Ivanov and Sam Nunn in which they argue that Cold War-era strategies and tactics are ill-suited to the real and current threats we face. The authors describe working this past year with over 30 senior political, military and security experts from across the Euro-Atlantic area to develop a new approach for building mutual security in the region. This approach is set out as recommendations for key policy changes for presidents, prime ministers, parliamentarians and publics.

Read the International Herald Tribune article here.

Lord Browne is a former British defence secretary, convener of the Top Level Group, and Chair of the European Leadership Network; Ambassador Ischinger is a former German deputy foreign minister and Chairman of the Munich Security Conference. Igor Ivanov, former Russian foreign minister, is president of the Russian International Affairs Council. Sam Nunn, former U.S. senator, is co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative. They are co-chairmen of the “Building Mutual Security in the Euro-Atlantic Region” initiative.

Conference on the Consequence of Nuclear Weapons Use

toplevelgroup — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:15:56 +0000

Read Alistair Burt’s answer in Parliament on why the UK Government did not send a representative to the Oslo Conference on the Consequence of Nuclear Weapons Use.

Link to the HANSARD.

Letter from Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt MP to Top Level Group

toplevelgroup — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:02:36 +0000

CC Image courtesy of Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Flickr

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Alistair Burt MP, wrote to the Top Level Group Convenor, Lord Browne of Ladyton, explaining the Government’s position towards the conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons held in Oslo on 4-5 March 2013.

Read the letter from Alistair Burt MP.

Read the Minister’s parliamentary written answer on 4th March 2013.

New Wall Street Journal Op-ed by US Gang of Four

toplevelgroup — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:24:47 +0000

(R-L) Sam Nunn George Shultz, Henry Kissinger and Bill Perry

Today the Wall Street Journal published a new op-ed by George Shultz, William Perry, Henry Kissinger and Sam Nunn in which they argue that nuclear dangers remain all too real and that “the pace of work doesn’t now match the urgency of the threat.”

Today’s joint op-ed is the fifth since their seminal article of January 2007 which renergised the international momentum for further multilateral disarmament, non-proliferation and improved nuclear security. The 2007 article inspired several other “Gangs” of senior statemen to make similar calls in their respective countries. This included United Kingdom with the TLG members Douglas Hurd (former Conservative Foreign Secretary), Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP (former Conservative Foreign and Defence Secretary), George Robertson, (former Labour Defence Secretary and NATO secretary-general), and David Owen (former Labour Foreign Secretary and current Liberal Democrat peer) publishing a letter to the Times in June 2008.

The formation of the Top Level Group was inspired by the example of former Secretaries Shultz, Perry, Kissinger and Senator Nunn. The TLG commends their dedication to reducing the world’s nuclear dangers.

To read the Wall Street Journal article in full, please visit to the Nuclear Threat Initiative website at http://www.nti.org.