Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what process his Department has for (a) storing and (b) otherwise retaining surveillance footage taken by Royal Air Force planes over Gaza since December 2023.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has policies and protocols which provide direction for the storage and retention of operational intelligence. I am unable to comment further due to operational security.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has (a) lost, (b) deleted and (c) otherwise destroyed any surveillance footage taken by Royal Air Force planes over Gaza since December 2023.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 57027, and reiterate that I cannot comment on detailed intelligence matters nor disclose details of Ministry of Defence internal policies for the storage and retention of operational intelligence.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 52683 on International Humanitarian Law, what the name is of the third-party contractor providing information and analysis to the International Humanitarian Law cell; and how much his Department paid to this contractor since January 2024.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office provides funding for the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), an independent not for profit organisation that specialises in using open-source methodologies to verify digital content (e.g. footage, images) from conflict settings. We support CIR's work in a number of conflict settings, including the Middle East, via a central accountable grant agreement. We have provided £715,000 of funding for their work on the Middle East since January 2024.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2024 to Question 15836 on Israel: F-35 Aircraft, how many F-35 components were sent from RAF Marham to Israel between January 2022 and October 2023; and when each component was sent.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I am unable to release this information due to operational security.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2024 to Question 15836 on Israel: F-35 Aircraft, when F-35 components were sent from RAF Marham to Israel between October 2023 and August 2024.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I am unable to release this information due to operational security.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to respond to Question 52090 tabled by the honourable Member for Alloa and Grangemouth on 13 May 2025.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I am unable to release this information due to operational security.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to respond to Question 52089 tabled by the honourable Member for Alloa and Grangemouth on 13 May 2025.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I am unable to release this information due to operational security.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason the Royal Air Force stopped airdropping aid to Gaza; whether he has had recent discussions with his Israeli counterpart on this issue; if he will make it his policy to restart airdropping aid to Gaza.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Humanitarian aid should never be contingent on a ceasefire or used as a political tool. On 13 May 2025, along with European partners, the UK convened a UN Security Council meeting to call for Israel to lift its block on aid into Gaza. We will continue to make our views clear, both in public and in private to the Israeli government and work with our partners to achieve an enduring and sustainable end to the hostilities.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office leads on coordinating the Government’s humanitarian response to deliver lifesaving assistance to the civilian population in Gaza. The Ministry of Defence has provided military support when requested to facilitate the delivery of this assistance, including participating in airdropping aid as part of the Jordanian international coalition in 2024. Currently land routes are the only viable option for delivering aid at scale into Gaza. We remain ready to support as required.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many arms export licences to Israel were approved and subsequently (a) adjusted and (b) rejected between September and December 2024.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
On 2 September, the Government announced the suspension of certain export licences to Israel, related to items for use in military operations in Gaza. New licence applications for such items were also refused on the same basis following this decision.
Detail on individual licences are published periodically by the Export Control Joint Unit. On 10 December, an ad hoc data release was published on ‘Export control licensing management information for Israel’. These figures show that in addition to the 29 licences issued prior to September 2024 that were suspended or amended as a consequence of the suspension, between 2 September and 6 December 2024, 34 military licences were issued, 17 were refused and none were revoked.
Examples of licence applications issued during this period include items for academic research, items for commercial aircraft, military equipment for re-export, and components for trainer aircraft, not assessed to be used in relation to current military operations in Gaza. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/export-control-licensing-management-information-for-israel/israel-export-control-licensing-data-6-december-2024).
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons officials in her Department met with Elbit Systems on 16 December 2024.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
Officials met with Elbit Systems with regards to the UK Coastal Radar Data Integrator procurement. Content of these meetings are commercially sensitive.