(Stockton North)
(Lab): In the light of the latest mass killing of
Palestinian civilians by the Israel Defence Forces, will the
Secretary of State review and apply the criteria for arms sales
to states that violate international law?
The Secretary of State for International Trade and
President of the Board of Trade (Dr Liam Fox): The UK
has one of the most robust arms export systems, which we operate
under the consolidated criteria in line with our EU partners.
(Lincoln) (Lab): In
2017, Britain sold £216 million worth of military contracts and
supplies to Israel and £571 million worth to Turkey. The
disproportionate use of deadly force by those nations against
Palestinian and Kurdish citizens has been rightly condemned. Does
the Minister agree that the UK needs a transparent and human
rights-oriented arms trade to ensure that this country does not
enable brutal attacks to be made on civilians?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
International Trade (Graham Stuart): All export licence
applications are rigorously assessed, case by case, against the
consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria. No
licence will be granted if there is a clear risk that the
equipment might be used for internal repression, or in a serious
violation of international humanitarian law. However, we continue
to monitor the situation in Israel and Gaza closely.
