Trade secretary admits further breach and says ‘it is possible more cases will come to light’

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The international trade secretary admitted the UK had breached for a third time a court order banning the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia, which could be used in violations of international law in the conflict in Yemen.

Responding to an urgent question, Liz Truss told the Commons that officials had discovered a further violation, 10 days after she was forced to write to the court of appeal admitting two other export licences had been unlawfully granted.

Truss said: “We have identified one further licence that has been granted in breach of the undertaking,” prompting the SNP to call for her resignation and Labour to ask how the sales were signed off in the first place.

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Ministers had agreed in June to halt arms exports to Saudi Arabia of weapons that could be used in the war in Yemen, after a landmark court ruling that the sales could be in breach of international humanitarian law.

Despite that commitment, an emergency review by Truss’s department discovered that civil servants had authorised a contract to repair equipment used by the Saudi army to detect improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Truss offered “an unreserved apology” for the breach, added that the export licence to Saudi Arabia had not been used, “has now been revoked” and put the blame on a lack of communication between government departments.

An estimated 18,292 civilians have been killed or injured as a result of indiscriminate bombing by the Saudi-led coalition embroiled in the civil war in Yemen, according to research conducted by the Yemen Data Project.

Saudi land forces are also based in the country, intervening in support of the Yemeni government which is fighting primarily against Houthi rebels, backed by Iran. Since the conflict began in March 2015, the UK has licensed at least £5.3bn worth of arms to Riyadh.

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Opposition MPs reacted to the admission with incredulity. Keith Vaz, a Labour backbencher, said: “The apology is welcome but the narrative is shameful … Last week a bomb fell on a mosque and on a family eating their dinner. What do they put on the death certificates? Is it death by administrative error?”

Barry Gardiner, the shadow trade secretary, said: “The government did know, they just didn’t tell the secretary of state’s department. Which department knew? Which minister did not tell the secretary of state?”

Officials from the Ministry of Defence recommended the latest unlawful licence be approved on 16 July, a month after the court of appeal ruling. It was signed off by Department of International Trade (DIT) on 13 August.

A written statement from DIT, issued after Truss’s remarks, acknowledged: “Given that RSLF [Royal Saudi Land Force] troops were being deployed in Yemen at the time … this licence should not have been granted.”

Truss said the department’s review was ongoing and added it was possible more breaches would come to light. Truss added that a further review was being undertaken by a senior civil servant from the Department of Work and Pensions.

The minister also told MPs that government had breached additional undertakings given to parliament that weapons would not be sold to Saudi Arabia’s coalition partners, by agreeing to sell fuel gauges for F-16 jets to Jordan’s air force.

It had not been appreciated that Jordan was a coalition member when the licence was approved in August. Following the review, Truss said the licence had been reassessed, not been used, and was subsequently revoked.

Last week, Truss admitted the government had twice violated the legal commitment “inadvertently”. That prompted SNP MP Chris Law to demand that she provided the Commons with an explanation.

Back then, Truss had admitted that a licence was granted by the DIT to export 260 military radio parts, worth £435,450, to the Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF), on June 26, 6 days after the court ruling. That had been recommended by both the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence before the court’s decision was known.

A £200 air cooler for an armoured vehicle was also licensed for use by the RSLF and was approved for sale in June on the misunderstanding it would not be used in Yemen.

The SNP called for Truss to resign or be sacked. Law said: “The Tory government is either completely incompetent or it is deliberately breaking the law with impunity.”

Truss said that all future licences to Saudi would be signed off by ministers.