WEAPONS IN SPACE

Motion Text

That this House is concerned that the US is expected to review the 1996 national security directive on space in early summer 2005 and that President Bush is expected to implement a major shift in policy paving the way for the development and deployment of space weapons; further notes that the Outer Space Treaty bans only weapons of mass destruction from space and that weapons currently under development or research are not weapons of mass destruction; further notes that the deployment of space weapons by the US could lead to a space arms race with Russia and China and nuclear proliferation on Earth; and calls on the UK Government to undertake urgently diplomatic action to dissuade the United States from deploying space weapons and to start immediate negotiations at the Conference on Disarmament on a treaty banning all weapons from space.