Internal analysis conducted by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the 11th Review Conference (RevCon) of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in New York City earlier in 2026 failed to account for the UK’s disarmament obligations, campaigners have said.

Disappointment over lack of consensus

The analysis, released following a request under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act by the Canary, included a ‘diptel’ – a diplomatic telegram sent by diplomats back to the FCDO in London, and other internal communications discussing the conclusion of the conference.

The conference did produce a document, which remained in draft, showing what agreements on nuclear non-proliferation the parties to the treaty had attempted to reach consensus on. Paragraph 15, concerning Iran’s nuclear weapons programme, remained contested, and the document was not ‘adopted’ by the RevCon.

Speaking at its conclusion on 22 May, the 11th Review Conference of the Parties to the NPT president, and Vietnam’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Do Hung Viet said:

I am disappointed that the review conference was unable to reach consensus on an outcome document and really seize this critical opportunity to make our world a safer place.

While the UK Government did not immediately issue any public comment about the failure of the conference to agree on an outcome document, a FCDO minister did later say that the UK remains committed to the NPT, in response to a question raised in the House of Lords by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer, a Liberal Democrat peer.

FCDO minister of state Baroness Chapman of Darlington said on 9 July:

Although it is disappointing that consensus could not be reached in New York, the review conference covered a thorough examination of global progress to implement NPT obligations over the past four years so as to identify positive progress and those areas that remain challenging.

Internal diplomatic analysis says NPT RevCon outcome ‘good’ for the UK

The diptel released to the Canary was dated 27 May and said:

11th NPT Review Conference concludes without consensus on an outcome document, following a stand-off between Iran and the US over references to Iran. UK red lines protected in the final draft.

It added:

The UK delegation comprised officials from FCDO, MOD (Ministry of Defence), DESNZ (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero), UKMis (UK Mission to) Geneva, UKMis Vienna and UKMis New York, led by [Redacted].

In terms of FCDO’s analysis of the UK Government’s performance at the RevCon, it said:

The UK pushed a positive agenda throughout. Side events on the peaceful uses of nuclear science highlighted UK leadership and ambition in this space.

Our collaboration with Norway on the principles of irreversible and verifiable nuclear disarmament underscored our commitment to strengthening crucial technical work that underpins the aims of the Treaty.

Our side event on the UK’s National Report demonstrated our commitment to transparency, in stark contrast to Russia and China.

The UK convened P5 meetings (almost 10 hours during the final two weeks) to co-ordinate positions [Redacted] to commit to risk reduction and strategic security talks – commitments captured in the final draft.

The diptel concluded:

Ultimately, it was politics that stood in the way, as was the case in 2015 (Middle East) and 2022 (Ukraine). The final draft final document represented a good outcome for the UK.

In addition, FCDO released an email to the Canary dated 22 May – the final day of the conference. The email was sent from FCDO Counter Proliferation and Arms Control Centre head Rebecca Sagar to Ben Fender. Fender is listed on a government organogram as director of FCDO’s Defence & International Security Directorate.

Sagar said:

Consensus was a long stretch, given the wider international security situation and failure to achieve consensus for 16 years.

While disappointing, we have still ensured that we have protected [Redacted], important IHL principles and pushed a more stretching non-proliferation focus. We have built alliances, particularly with France and the US and ensured we were in good company throughout.

‘Astounding’ that FCDO said conference outcome ‘a good outcome for the UK’ – campaigner

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) describes itself as:

The international campaign to stigmatise, prohibit & eliminate nuclear weapons.

ICAN UN liaison Seth Shelden attended the conference. Shelden reviewed FCDO’s analysis and told the Canary:

The FCDO’s conclusion that the NPT Review Conference ‘represented a good outcome for the UK’ is astounding, yet, unsurprising.

Its support for a document that undermines previous Review Conference outcomes is certainly consistent with the UK’s behaviour throughout the conference, wherein it subverted previously-agreed language recognising the consequences of nuclear weapons, failed to condemn allies for re-opening the door to nuclear testing, and all but ignored disarmament obligations altogether.

In a most striking contravention of Article VI, in 2025 the UK increased nuclear weapons spending by 17% from the year previous (passing Russia as the world’s third-largest spender on nuclear weapons) and paved the way for the US to again station nuclear weapons in Britain.

One wonders for whom the FCDO could think that the final draft – which, of course, itself was not even adopted – was good, apart from corporations that manufacture nuclear weapons.

Analysis fails to mention UK’s failure ‘to comply in good faith’ with NPT – academic

UCL honorary professor, University of Leiden visiting professor and University of Sussex emeritus professor Andy Stirling also reviewed the documents and told the Canary:

Missing here is any mention of the highly significant failure on the part of the UK to comply in good faith with its own commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to act in good faith to undertake nuclear disarmament on its own behalf.

That the UK is in fact raising the scale of its own nuclear capabilities, is also in breach of other emerging international legal instruments and encouraging of other states to also adopt this threatening posture.

FCDO was approached for comment.

Another related meeting is scheduled for later in 2026. While the UK Government has not decided to support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), its first review conference is expected to be held from 30 November – 4 December 2026 at the UN headquarters in New York City.

The TPNW represents a key international attempt to ban nuclear weapons. If adopted by nuclear weapons states like the UK, it would put a ban on nuclear weapons on a similar footing to the internationally agreed bans on chemical and biological weapons.

Featured image via National Audit Office

By Tom Pashby

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