Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of Government adherence to the rule of law regarding the issuance of arms export licences to Saudi Arabia.

The Secretary of State unreserved apologised to the Court and to Parliament for the inadvertent breaches of the Undertaking given to the Court by the then Secretary of State in the Order of the Court dated 20 June 2019.

The Permanent Secretary on behalf of the Secretary of State has commissioned a full investigation to: (i) establish the precise circumstances in which these licences were granted; (ii) establish whether any other licences have been granted in breach of the undertaking to the Court or the commitment to Parliament; and (iii) confirm that procedures are in place to ensure that no further such breaches can occur. The Director General Policy Group at the Department for Work and Pensions has been appointed to lead this investigation.