Conflict in Sudan Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Stella Creasy
Main Page: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)Department Debates - View all Stella Creasy's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(1 day, 10 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
Order. I understand the importance of this urgent question, but we have substantial business to get through today, so I ask that questions are short and, Minister, that answers are just as short and on point.
Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
I welcome the aid that the Minister has outlined for this horrific crisis. He is right that we must be precise about what military involvement, if any, the UK may have via arms sales. He will have also heard the concern about the UAE and what is happening. Amnesty International has described it as a
“hub for arms diversion for years”,
affecting conflicts not just in Sudan, but in Eritrea. Can he update the House? He says that the Government are looking closely at the reports about arms sales. Can he update us on what conversations he has had with our counterparts in the UAE on that? How can we close those loopholes so that everybody can have confidence in this matter?
Mr Falconer
We have looked closely at the reports in The Guardian and the associated documentary evidence that it has provided. I have tried to set out our assessment of those reports. We are still looking in particular at this question of the engine and the licensing arrangements by which it may have made its way to Sudan. However, unlike some of the reports that I have seen online and elsewhere, this is not large-scale British arms; this is three specific components, and the dossier of documents included a range of other countries. That is why I have focused my remarks more broadly. I can also reassure my hon. Friend that the UK and the UAE continue to discuss these issues, including discussions on Friday between the Foreign Secretary and her counterpart.