Declares that the current volatile situation in the United States of America following the death of George Floyd is of great concern to many people in Scotland; considers that Black Lives Matter protests have been largely peaceful but that a disproportionate and heavy-handed police response has further stoked tensions, resulting in many injured protestors; and further that President Donald Trump’s actions have not helped to de-escalate tensions.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to immediately suspend the sale of riot equipment to the United States of America and make representations to seek a de-escalation of tensions.
And the petitioners remain etc.—[Presented by Patricia Gibson, Official Report, 9 June 2020; Vol. 677, c. 261.]
[P002569]
Petitions in the same terms were presented by the hon. Members for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Alan Brown) [P002570]; and for Glasgow East (David Linden) [P002571].
Observations from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mr Ranil Jayawardena):
HM Government have been sorry to see the violence that has taken place in the United States of America.
We take our export control responsibilities very seriously and operate one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world. We rigorously examine each export licence application on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.
HM Government continue to monitor developments in the United States of America closely. We are able to review licences and suspend or revoke as necessary when circumstances require, and this is done in line with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.
We publish information on all export licences issued, refused and revoked on a quarterly and annual basis as official statistics on gov.uk. The most recent publication was in April, covering export licensing decisions taken up to the end of December 2019.