Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the article published in The Guardian on 18 June 2019 entitled The Saudis couldn't do it without us: the UK's true role in Yemen's deadly war and the article published in The Observer on 23 June 2019 entitled British target training of Saudi air force did not stop Yemen atrocities, if he will make an assessment of the effect on the UK’s international reputation of its role in training the Royal Saudi Air Force.

The UK and Saudi Arabia have a longstanding bilateral relationship based on a number of pillars including defence, security, trade and investment, shared concerns about regional issues and energy security. The UK supports Saudi Arabia’s efforts to protect its national security against critical threats, such as the ballistic missiles and drones fired by the Houthis into civilian areas in Saudi Arabia.

The UK works with Saudi Arabia to ensure targeting procedures are compliant with International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and we regularly raise the importance of IHL compliance with Saudi Arabia, including at senior levels. The UK is not a member of the Saudi-led Coalition and the UK’s role is limited to providing advice, information and assistance to help Saudi Arabia respond to airborne threats launched by the Houthis. The UK has no role in setting Coalition policy.