Saudi Arabia: Arms Export Licences

Debate between Earl of Courtown and Baroness Coussins

Thursday 26th September 2019 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Courtown]

I thank the noble Lord for his questions. He raises a number of points in relation to his question to my noble friend Lord Ahmad which, of course, as he rightly says, would have been answered in the greatest of good faith.

Perhaps I should clarify further on the licensing of arms to Saudi Arabia. We have already undertaken not to grant new licences for exports to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners which might be used in the conflict in Yemen. As the noble Lord is aware, we continue to assess all other export licence applications against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria. I understand the concerns raised in both Houses and by the department as well that there have been breaches. However, I should reiterate the fact that we have one of the most robust export licensing control systems in the world.

The noble Lord also mentioned the value of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. I am afraid that I do not have that information with me. I will consult with my noble friend Lord Ahmad and colleagues in the department to ensure that the noble Lord gets a response.

[Baroness Coussins (CB)]

My Lords, I too warmly welcome today’s Statement. As the noble Earl will know, the report on Yemen by the International Relations Committee of this House, of which I was then a member, concluded that Her Majesty’s Government were on the wrong side of international humanitarian law in selling arms to Saudi Arabia when there was such a clear risk that they might be used against civilians in Yemen. Is the noble Earl in a position to say a little bit more about what criteria will be used by the Government to determine whether and when this risk has been definitively removed before seeking to renew any export licences on arms sales to Saudi Arabia?

[The Earl of Courtown]

I thank the noble Baroness for her question. I was aware of the report from the committee on this issue. As I said earlier, we are confident that the UK export controls provide a robust means of assessing human rights concerns. Human rights are a core consideration in assessing export licence applications, and we will not now grant that licence as that would be inconsistent with the licensing criteria. These criteria require us to think very hard about the implications of human rights on granting licences.

Perhaps I should just repeat briefly that the interim procedures put in place mean that, on future licences, senior officials in DIT, FCO and the MoD are guaranteeing the latest information available to Government is used in this advice. All recommendations to grant licences for the export of items to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners will now have to be signed off by Ministers, as opposed to at official level.