Arms Export Licences (Saudi Arabia)

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Graham P Jones

Thursday 26th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman. We have found specific errors, for which I have apologised and taken immediate action to address, but overall, as the Court of Appeal itself points out, we have a robust and rigorous process.

[Graham P. Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

May I make a declaration? I have just returned from a two-day visit to Abqaiq in Saudi Arabia, facilitated by the kingdom, and in the coming days I will include that in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

As Chair of the Committees on Arms Export Controls, I would like to thank the Secretary of State for writing to me immediately on this issue and making it very transparent what the problems were. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is fighting vile terrorists in Yemen who are using human shields. Does she agree that we are approaching the point where our current arms export regulations are not sufficient to deal with the issue of the rebels—the terrorists—using human shields and that the number of civilian casualties is a result of that?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments. In this particular case, we have already identified a problem in sharing internal information within government which led to these exports licences being issued. Of course we are doing further investigation into that, but that is the specific issue around the breach of the Court of Appeal judgment. That is where I am putting my focus as Secretary of State.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Graham P Jones

Tuesday 27th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

It is a bit rich of the right hon. Gentleman to suggest that we should not bring politics into this when that is precisely what he is doing. We are making sure that local councils have the flexibility to raise council tax to fund these vital public services. Labour has to acknowledge that this is not just about the money we spend but the way we spend it. The reality is that if the entire focus is on the level of spending rather than what we are doing, we end up with the situation that occurred in 2010—vast increases in spending and services actually getting worse.

[Graham P. Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

3. Whether he has reviewed his Department’s procedures for authorising and monitoring private finance initiative contracts as a result of the liquidation of Carillion.