The Top Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation (TLG) is a cross-party parliamentary group in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, whose primary focus is the advancement of the

nuclear disarmament Nuclear disarmament is the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons. Its end state can also be a nuclear-weapons-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated. The term ''denuclearization'' is also used to describe the pro ...

and non-proliferation agenda in Britain and internationally. It is formed of almost all the former senior Ministers of

foreign affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

and defence over the last two decades and includes former Chiefs of Defence and two former NATO Secretaries General. The Rt Hon

Des Browne Desmond Henry Browne, Baron Browne of Ladyton, (born 22 March 1952) is a Scottish politician who served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as Secretary of State for Defence 2006 to 2008 and Secretary of ...

, former Defence Secretary, was the first convenor of the TLG, which is now led by

Alistair Burt Alistair James Hendrie Burt (born 25 May 1955) is a Conservative British politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Bedfordshire from 2001 until 2019. He was previously MP for his nat ...

MP. The Top Level Group is administered and supported by th
European Leadership Network

Formation

The group was established in October 2009, in response to, and in tandem with, the growing international prominence of the issue of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. This momentum has been driven by former US Secretaries of State

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...

and

George Shultz George Pratt Shultz ( ; December 13, 1920February 6, 2021) was an American economist, businessman, diplomat and statesman. He served in various positions under two different Republican presidents and is one of the only two persons to have held f ...

, former Defence Secretary William Perry and former Senator Sam Nunn in their Wall Street Journal article of January 2007, (which has since evolved into th
Nuclear Security Project
, as well as by U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

's Prague speech in April 2009, in which he outlined his vision of a nuclear-free world.

Members

The members of the group are as follows:

Key aims

According to the Top Level Group website, the aims of the group are:

Activities

The members of the group are involved in a variety of activities, engaging in parliamentary work, media contributions, and in various relevant NGO conferences. In February 2010, the group met with David Miliband MP, then Foreign Secretary, to discuss the issue of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, particularly as it related to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference later in the year. On 14 April 2010, the group produced, signed, and arranged for the signatures of 41 senior European figures for a statement published as an open letter on the Guardian online website. This highlighted the world's growing nuclear dangers and called for greater international efforts to address them. Des Browne, chair of the group, led delegations to Washington and to Moscow in March and April respectively. Various members of the group have taken part in video interviews, produced b
Talkworks Films
regarding the nuclear options and dangers ahead. The Top Level Group also maintains
website
which provides updates for the activities of its members, and which also monitors and publishes parliamentary proceedings relating to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

References

External links

Top Level Group

Nuclear Security Project , Security on Nuclear Weapons & Materials , NTI
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2014 Arms control Arms control treaties Nuclear proliferation Nuclear weapons policy All-Party Parliamentary Groups