Bid to speed up nuclear disarmament

The move came amid reports that US President Barack Obama is planning talks with Russia on a new agreement to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), with the possible aim of reducing stockpiles to 1,000 warheads on each side.

Mr Miliband outlined his proposals in a policy paper designed to add momentum to British efforts to reinvigorate the disarmament process, which has stalled over the last decade amid worries about proliferation to states like North Korea and Iran and the potential acquisition of nukes by terror groups.

In a speech in January 2008, Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged to put the UK "at the forefront of the international campaign to accelerate disarmament amongst possessor states, to prevent proliferation to new states, and to ultimately achieve a world that is free from nuclear weapons".

And the UK will next month host a conference on minimising the proliferation risks associated with the expansion of civil nuclear power expected as economies around the world seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Britain has unilaterally cut its operationally available nuclear arsenal by 20% to fewer than 160 warheads - equivalent to a 75% reduction on the UK's Cold War-era explosive power.

While the USA, France and Russia have also made significant reductions, Mr Miliband said that further progress will require action on three fronts: watertight anti-proliferation measures; an international legal framework for reduced arsenals in existing nuclear states; and new solutions to the challenge of moving from small numbers of warheads to a nuclear weapon-free world.

Britain is carrying out work on how to verify nuclear disarmament and is proposing a five-nation conference later this year to discuss confidence-building measures.

The six steps include securing agreement among signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty for the implementation of tougher measures to prevent the spread of weapons to more states or terror groups, and working with the International Atomic Energy Agency on helping states develop civil nuclear energy in ways which are safe and secure and minimise the risk of military use.

Also outlined in the plan is a move to bring the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty into force by securing ratification in the US, China, Iran, North Korea, Israel, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Egypt.