Nuclear security

Threat of nuclear war ‘dangerously close’, parliamentary report warns

Lack of meaningful arms control agreements is risking the creation of an arms race and raising the possibility of nuclear weapons being used, according to a parliamentary report.

Combined with the breakdown of diplomatic communication between countries and new technologies, the risk of a nuclear strike happening is now greater than at any time since the Cold War, the House of Lords’ International Relations Committee has warned.

With a major non-proliferation meeting scheduled by the UN in New York next week, the committee has released a report detailing what it describes as “grave concerns” and is calling on the government to address the “deteriorating state of nuclear diplomacy”.

The Lords’ International Relations Committee chairman Lord Howell of Guildford said: “We are now dangerously close to a world without arms control agreements, paving the way for a new arms race and for increased risk of nuclear weapons use.