Points of Order

Liam Byrne Excerpts

Thursday 11th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Liam Byrne (Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. You rightly expect the Executive to provide timely information to this House. On 13 August I wrote to the Secretaries of State for Defence, for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and for Business and Trade to ask for important information about the legality of F-35 exports. We want that information ahead of a ministerial appearance before the Business and Trade Sub-Committee on Economic Security, Arms and Export Controls on Monday.

This is important, because the Al-Haq judgment handed down by the courts on 30 June made it very clear that under our constitution, the acutely sensitive and political issue of the legality of exports is a matter for the Executive—who are democratically accountable to Parliament and ultimately the electorate—and not for the courts. We have not had that information yet, and the hearing is on Monday. What steps can you advise me to take to get the information that the Committee needs?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

I am grateful to the right hon. Member for giving me notice of his point of order. The Chair is not responsible for Ministers’ replies to correspondence, but all hon. Members should be entitled to expect a timely reply when they write to any member of the Government, particularly when they are asking for information on behalf of a Select Committee on which the House has conferred formal powers to seek information and to hold the Government to account. I am sure that those on the Treasury Bench will have noted the right hon. Member’s comments, and I hope that the Business and Trade Committee will be provided with all the information it requires as soon as possible.