U-turn on cluster munitions treaty welcome

4.08.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 24th Feb 2007

At an international conference in Oslo, the Government announced a decision to agree to a declaration calling for a treaty banning cluster bombs.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, Michael Moore MP said: "Following yesterday's reports from the conference this represents a major U-turn by the British Government which we welcome. The humanitarian impact of cluster munitions is appalling and the Government has been trying to defend the indefensible for too long. "This is a major breakthrough, but only the first step in a difficult process. The challenge now is to develop a binding treaty which has real impact on the ground."

"The Liberal Democrats have been at the forefront of this campaign and it now appears that pressure from the Cluster Munition Coalition and Landmine Action, as well as many other NGOs at the Oslo conference has provoked a major change of heart by the Government. This agreement must not be used as an excuse for domestic inaction. The Government must now deliver on its pledges to phase out its stockpiles of these weapons."