Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Court of Appeal ruling on 20 June 2019 in R (on the application of Campaign Against Arms Trade) v. The Secretary of State for International Trade, whether his Department will suspend extant open licences for the export of arms to Saudi Arabia.

The Government is carefully considering the implications of the Court of Appeal judgment of 20 June for decision making. We disagree with the judgment and are seeking permission to appeal. While we do this, we will not grant any new licences for exports to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners (UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Egypt) for possible use in the conflict in Yemen.

Extant licences are not immediately affected by this judgment but decisions about these licences are remitted to the Government to reconsider in the light of the judgment. The Campaign Against Arms Trade did not seek an Order to suspend licences and the Court has not ordered their suspension. The Court expressly clarified that the outcome of the reconsideration was not a foregone conclusion.