Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what account of ongoing geopolitical fragility his Department takes in considering applications for licences for the export of arms to states in sensitive areas.

The Strategic Export Licensing Criteria provide a thorough risk assessment framework for export licence applications and require us to think hard about the impact of providing equipment and its capabilities. We consider a range of factors, including examining the political and security conditions in the destination country, the nature of the equipment to be exported, the organisation or unit which will ultimately be the user of the equipment, and all available information about how similar equipment has been used in the past and how it is likely to be used in the future. We can and do respond quickly and flexibly to changing or fluid international situations. We take the principles of responsible export control set out in the Criteria incredibly seriously.