Speeches

Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assistance British service personnel are providing to Saudi Arabian forces in Yemen.

Penny Mordaunt

The UK and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have a long history of defence cooperation. As part of this long standing relationship, the RAF provides training and shares best practice to the Royal Saudi Air Force, including training on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) compliant targeting.

In addition we have provided guidance and advice to the Saudis on their processes to ensure continued compliance with IHL.

Finally the UK has deployed a small number of military personnel serving as Liaison Officers in Saudi headquarters. Their role is to build our relationship and provide insight into Saudi operations. Liaison Officers are not involved in directing or conducting operations in Yemen or selecting targets and are not involved in the Saudi targeting decision-making process.