Saudi Arabia: Arms Sales

Baroness Smith of Newnham Excerpts

Friday 10th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Grimstone of Boscobel]

I do not believe that they are, but in order to give the noble Lord a completely accurate answer to his question, I will write to him.

[Baroness Smith of Newnham (LD) [V]]

My Lords, your Lordships’ International Relations and Defence Committee, of which I am a member, produced reports on the Middle East in 2017 and Yemen in 2019, in which we raised concerns about the Saudi-led coalition’s misuse of weaponry leading to the loss of civilian life. In particular, we noted that assurances by Saudi-led reviews are not enough and not an adequate way of implementing our obligations of risk-based assessment set out in the Arms Trade Treaty. Does the Minister agree, and will he clarify what assessment has been made, beyond what the Saudis have told the Government?

[Lord Grimstone of Boscobel]

The assessments we make are very much our own assessments, led by specialist people who are expert in these matters. We draw on information from a number of sources, including but not confined to the Saudis, and a whole range of material is considered in coming to our view of what the appropriate assessment of a particular incident should be.