Register of Arms Brokers Bill [HL]

Lord Judd Excerpts

Friday 10th June 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Judd (Lab)]

My Lords, I warmly congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Jolly, on having brought forward this very important Bill. It is not a little Bill; it is a Bill of immense significance. It is good to follow the noble Lord, Lord Stoneham. We all wish him and his family well with the arrival of the new grandchild.

It is always a bit difficult to say this—it seems like boasting or something—but my life experience has totally convinced me of the importance of this issue. When I talk about my life experience, I have until recently been a trustee of Saferworld, I am a one-time chair of International Alert, and of course I worked with Oxfam, VSO and others over quite a number of years.

Significantly, I also look back to my ministerial days, when I had the privilege of serving at defence, overseas development and the Foreign Office. My experience in all those parts of my life convinced me of the significance of the issue with which this Bill is dealing. I do not see how you can have a relevant, effective and convincing foreign and security policy unless your disarmament policy, and your objectives within the context of that policy, are prominent. Furthermore, the arms trade and arms sales must have priority consideration in that policy. My own view is that, with arms as desperately lethal as they are now and with the degree of instability in the world, we should really only ever export arms to our allies or to close friends that can be trusted, and for a specific purpose. They are not just another product to be exported; they are the means of death and slaughter.

We all know the problems in controlling end use and the rest, when sales take place. The closest monitoring is therefore vital. It is also why the arms trade treaty was so important, as a beginning. I try not to be a cynic in my old age but what I worry about, looking back at my own ministerial days, is that there is always an element of tokenism floating around. We may have great celebrations in the Foreign Office to welcome the arms trade treaty, but does that treaty indicate a real and serious priority commitment in foreign policy to the importance of this work, or is it something to have on paper as our theoretical position, with in practice a minimalist approach to its application? That is why this Bill becomes such an important contribution to the right solution.

It is naive to suppose that arms cause conflict, but when I look back to my Oxfam days, 25 years ago now—it is difficult to imagine that when it is all so vivid—I used to be dismayed by the amount of our work which was affected by conflict. Well over 50% of it in parts of the world was dealing with the consequences or the immediate effects of conflict. How can you talk intelligently about your commitment to development and humanitarian priorities if you do not see this issue as central? But conflict starts in the minds of people; what would be naive is to suppose that arms cause it. They do not. People cause conflict. It is very easy in some situations—one thinks of Rwanda and Burundi in the past—for handmade weapons to be used to terrible effect. The availability of weapons, particularly given their modern potential for destructiveness, is a dangerous element amid all this instability and unpredictability.

Of course, the arms issue becomes as important as ever when we consider the deep political and strategic issues involving Russia, China and the rest. But what is happening on the ground in much of the world, where there is immediate killing and slaughter, is the result of local and regional conflicts in which a small number of people can cause havoc and appalling suffering. That is why it would be unthinkable not to take this Bill seriously and see it as much needed. I congratulate most sincerely the noble Baroness, Lady Jolly, and her supporters on having given us the opportunity to start taking our responsibilities as seriously as we should.