Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton and Jo Swinson

Monday 27th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire) (LD)]

9. What assessment he has made of the future threat posed by lethal autonomous weapons; and if he will make a statement.

[The Minister for the Armed Forces (Mark Lancaster)]

The MOD continuously monitors developments and challenges arising from emerging weapon technology, including increasingly automated weapons systems. The UK considers the UN convention on certain conventional weapons to be the right forum in which to discuss lethal autonomous weapons systems, and welcomes the progress made in Geneva by the group of government experts earlier this month.

[Jo Swinson]

Weapons that can kill without human instruction or accountability are not science fiction, but a worrying potential reality with huge moral consequences. If we are to secure international agreement on the control of these lethal autonomous weapons, we need to start from a common understanding of the challenge, so will the Minister re-evaluate the UK’s definition of autonomous weapons systems to bring it into line with that of the United Nations?

[Mark Lancaster]

My understanding is that there is no international agreement on what an autonomous weapons system is, which is precisely why calls for, for example, pre-emptive bans would be inappropriate at this point. The task in hand is absolutely to get an internationally agreed definition, and we believe that the UN CCW is the right forum in which to do so.