Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the oral contribution of the then Minister for Defence Procurement of 24 May 2016, column 403, on Yemen: cluster munitions, that his Department is investigating allegations that Saudi Arabia used UK-supplied cluster munitions, if he will (a) provide an update on the progress and conclusions of those investigations and (b) confirm whether those investigations also explored the possibility that UK-supplied aircraft were used to drop those munitions.

Sir Michael Fallon

The Government takes these allegations very seriously. We have analysed the case carefully and raised the issue with the Saudi-led Coalition.

The key test for our continued arms exports to Saudi Arabia in relation to International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is whether there is a clear risk that those weapons might be used in a serious violation of IHL. This is kept under careful and continual review.