Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he takes to ensure joint defence projects are compatible with the UK’s (a) arms export control system and (b) international obligations.

The UK takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and we operate one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world. We rigorously assess export licence applications in support of joint defence projects against strict assessment criteria, the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (SELC). We are satisfied that these Criteria continue to provide a thorough forward-looking risk assessment process for all export licence applications. We remain able to amend, suspend or revoke extant licences as circumstances require.