Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) training and (b) specific operational advice has been provided to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on (i) political authorisation of military operations, (ii) targeting of aerial operations and (iii) after-action reviews on operations in Yemen in the last 12 months.
Answered by Michael Fallon
As part of our ongoing Defence engagement with Saudi Arabia the UK has provided training to the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) both in the UK and in Saudi Arabia, including International Targeting courses for RSAF personnel, to improve their targeting processes and to support International Humanitarian Law (IHL) compliance.
The UK has supported the development of the coalition Joint Incident Assessment Team (JIAT) and delivered two training sessions in Saudi Arabia on the process for investigating alleged IHL violations. The UK has not been directly involved in investigations undertaken by the JIAT, has not provided any specific operational advice to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for operations in Yemen and has not provided training on political authorisation of military operations.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) technical and (b) personnel support has been provided to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to investigate possible breaches of (i) targeting procedures, (ii) the rules of engagement and (iii) international humanitarian law on operations in Yemen in the last 12 months.
Answered by Michael Fallon
It is important that all parties to the conflict in Yemen conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into all incidents where it is alleged that International Humanitarian Law (IHL) has been breached. We regularly raise the importance of compliance with IHL with the Saudi Arabian Government and other members of the military coalition.
The UK has supported the development of the coalition Joint Incident Assessment Team (JIAT) and delivered two training sessions in Saudi Arabia on the process for investigating alleged IHL violations. We have not been directly involved in investigations undertaken by the JIAT.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether technical capacity for the launching of cluster munitions was provided with any UK-manufactured (a) aircraft and (b) unmanned aerial device exported to Saudi Arabia in the last 15 years.
Answered by Michael Fallon
No.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel who were dishonourably discharged from the (a) Royal Navy excluding the Royal Marines, (b) Royal Marines, (c) Army and (d) Royal Air Force in each year from 1986 to 2000 have since had that dishonourable discharge reviewed and amended.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Dishonourable discharge is not a term used by the UK Armed Forces. In order to positively identify those discharges which were definitely related to sexual orientation, the Ministry of Defence would have to conduct a manual search of the files of all Service personnel discharged under the relevant regulations of 'misconduct' and 'services no longer required', both of which encompass a wide range of conduct and behaviour.
Since changes were made to the law in 2000 to allow homosexual men, lesbians and transgender personnel to serve openly in the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence has taken many positive steps to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff. The Royal Navy and the Army currently feature in Stonewall's Top 100 Employers list, and Stonewall has also publically praised Defence on our approach to ensuring that our workforce is as diverse as possible.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel were dishonourably discharged on the grounds of their sexual orientation from the (a) Royal Navy excluding the Royal Marines, (b) Royal Marines, (c) Army and (d) Royal Air Force in each year from 1986 to 2000.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Dishonourable discharge is not a term used by the UK Armed Forces. In order to positively identify those discharges which were definitely related to sexual orientation, the Ministry of Defence would have to conduct a manual search of the files of all Service personnel discharged under the relevant regulations of 'misconduct' and 'services no longer required', both of which encompass a wide range of conduct and behaviour.
Since changes were made to the law in 2000 to allow homosexual men, lesbians and transgender personnel to serve openly in the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence has taken many positive steps to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff. The Royal Navy and the Army currently feature in Stonewall's Top 100 Employers list, and Stonewall has also publically praised Defence on our approach to ensuring that our workforce is as diverse as possible.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department made of whether British steel could be used in the construction of the pressure hulls for the Trident Successor programme.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The specialised steel required for the Successor submarine pressure hull is not manufactured in the UK and no viable UK bid was received for this part of the Successor submarine manufacture.
Other stages of construction will include grades of steel manufactured by British suppliers and we expect them to take the opportunity to bid.
85% of BAE System's supply chain for the new submarines is based in the UK.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK armed forces personnel are stationed in (a) Saudi Arabia, (b) Yemen, (c) Oman, (d) Qatar and (e) UAE.
Answered by Mike Penning
There are around 100 military personnel based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including at the Defence section within the British Embassy in Riyadh. These personnel provide mentoring and advice to the Saudi Arabian National Guard as part of the British Military Mission to the Saudi Arabian National Guard. Personnel also work on the Saudi Arabia National Guard Communications Project to acquire and support, modern communications capabilities for the Saudi Arabian National Guard and work on the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Saudi Armed Forces Projects, supporting the United Kingdom's commitment to the defence of Saudi Arabia through the supply of modern military aircraft, naval vessels, weapons and associated support services to the Saudi Armed Forces. We have a small number of liaison personnel who work at the Saudi MOD and Operational Centres. We do not discuss specific numbers for reasons of safeguarding operational security.
There are no UK Armed Forces personnel based in Yemen.
There are around 195 military personnel based in Oman, including at the Defence section within the British Embassy in Muscat; personnel on Loan Service to the Omani Armed Forces and others on temporary assignments in the region. These numbers change on a daily basis according to the tasks assigned.
There are seven military personnel permanently assigned to Qatar (three within the Defence Section in the Embassy and four Loan Service officers working in training establishments). There are also a number of temporary personnel who work at Al Udeid airbase but we do not discuss specific numbers for reasons of safeguarding operational security.
There are six military personnel permanently assigned to the UAE (three within the Defence Section in the Embassy at Abu Dhabi; one within the Defence Section in the Dubai Consulate; and two Loan Service officers working with the UAE Electronic Warfare and Signals departments). There are also a number of temporary personnel at Al Minhad airbase but we do not discuss specific numbers for reasons of safeguarding operational security .
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what reports he has received on whether a UK-made cluster munition was (a) found and (b) used in Yemen in the last two years.
Answered by Mike Penning
Amnesty International wrote to the Prime Minister on 23 May 2016, and to the Ministry of Defence on 3 June 2016, on the alleged use of UK-produced BL-755 cluster munitions by the Saudi-led coallition in Yeman.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent violence and instability in South Sudan on the deployment plan of British armed forces as part of the UN peacekeeping mission in that country.
Answered by Mike Penning
Following the recent instability in South Sudan, we reviewed our deployment and judged that we should proceed as planned. We are now assessing with UN leads and the Government of South Sudan the timelines for the deployment of our forces. We have already deployed a small team to support the UN Mission in South Sudan and to pave the way for further UK military personnel.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the outcome of the EU referendum for the EU Maritime Headquarters at Northwood.
Answered by Julian Brazier
It will take us time to work through all of the implications. There will be no immediate changes, and we will remain committed to NATO, EU, UN, and National operations and missions around the world as a strong and reliable ally.